


Meant for Me

by hokshi



Category: Free!
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Knotting, Pining, Reader-Insert, Smut, natsuya is a little more of an ass this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-02-27 03:10:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 35,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18730528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hokshi/pseuds/hokshi
Summary: An omega and an alpha trying to find their way through the world. Until they find their way to each other.





	1. The Meet-Cute

**Author's Note:**

> hello, fellow whores. i hope your hearts are ready because Natsuya is here to snatch them again. be weary though, because there are more cliches than you can count on two hands with this fic. but i did it so i can bring you our favorite things that come with an abo verse: angst and porn. oh yeah and social dynamics and whatnot blah blah blah u get the point. let's kiss kiss fall in love yeehaw
> 
> and a big, fat, special thank you to one of the greatest Natsuya stans i know, [tiffany](https://tonystonem.tumblr.com/), for beta-reading. she has done so much for me and this fic, you don't even know. i hope one day, you all get to read her amazing work as well.

This uniform is ridiculous. 

 

Who in their right mind would decide to make their waitstaff match their vest and tie in  _ this  _ color?  _ Lemon yellow? _ Even mustard yellow is tamer than this bright, loud, desperate cry for help. Isn’t yellow the color that most easily triggers nausea? Why in the world would someone want to fill a restaurant with such an obnoxiously flashy color? It should also be outlawed for khakis to be a paired with a color this bright. Yet here you are, standing in the employee locker room of the clubhouse restaurant at Kirishima Country Club, wearing this illegal combination. 

 

Today is going to be your first day on the job after training, but you’re trying to suppress the nerves in order to focus on the fact that you finally landed a decent job. The location is a bit out of the way since you still have to go to school part-time, but for the money you make and the insurance that’s included, you could be worse off. So a little extra gas money isn’t too bad of a trade off. 

 

You sigh once more at the hideous uniform before making a few last adjustments to your hair and walking over to the timestamp desk to clock in. Once you’re out the swinging door that leads into the clubhouse restaurant, you make straight for the bar, where the restaurant manager and head bartender is stationed to get your table assignments. 

 

“Hey, Sousuke.” It’s kind of unfair how he doesn’t have to wear the loud, gaudy vest. “Here for my tables.” 

 

He greets you back with a barely visible smile and has you cover about a third of the restaurant, which isn’t that much right now, since it’s still the early afternoon. But it doesn’t take long for the evening rush to start as club members start trickling in after their games. At your busiest hour around six, you’re starting to use mnemonic and visual devices to help you remember all the orders you pick up on your way to finish a single task. 

 

For the most part though, it’s a smooth first day. You didn’t get any huge complaints, you didn’t mess up any orders, and you didn’t have to apologize for anything. So by customer service standards, you’d say you actually had a pretty good day. 

 

Or at least, it feels like it until this middle-aged guy chats you up when you come to refill his water, “Say, haven’t seen you around before. You new?” 

 

“Yes, sir.” You nod with a polite smile. 

 

“Man, what a pretty little thing you are. You got a mate?” He drags his eyes down your dazzling, lemon yellow body, and you clench the handle of the pitcher to hold back your extreme discomfort. 

 

You take a moment to clear your throat and subtly attempt to make eye contact with Sousuke, in case you need him to step in, before turning back to the customer, “No, sir.” 

 

“No?” He looks pleased. Gag. “How ‘bout a boyfriend?” 

 

“No, sir.” You scan the room, begging for anyone to raise their hand and ask you for some extra ketchup or something. 

 

“What a shame. If you’re ever looking for a nice alpha to hang around with, I’m always free after the eighteenth hole.” He quirks his eyebrows at you, like that’ll somehow suddenly flip the switch from unriddled disgust to fluttery swooning. 

 

“Yeah, trying to look for the nineteenth hole.” His friend cackles, and the first man hits his shoulder in good humor. You take the opportunity to bow slightly and escape to refill other waters. 

 

On your way back to the kitchen, you meet eyes with Sousuke at the bar. You see concern in his eyes but you just sigh and shrug it off before disappearing into the kitchen to retrieve the new orders. At least he seems aware of the situation. 

 

You were hoping that it would just end there, but alas, you had to make a couple more trips to deliver and collect Mr. Nineteenth Hole’s bill. “Thanks, cutie. And by the way, I meant my offer. You’re looking for an alpha to ride with, my door’s open.” He sends you a cheesy wink. 

 

“You’re too kind.” You reply blandly. 

 

“Tough crowd.” He chuckles as he shrugs on his bag of golf clubs, “See you around, sweetie.” 

 

When he and his friend take their leave, you use all your willpower to hold back your deep groan and eyeroll for behind closed doors. For now, you clear the table and ignore the fact that he left his number on the back of the receipt. 

 

When you’re placing the dishes into the dirty tray for washing later, Sousuke’s voice calls you to attention, “You handled that really well.” 

 

You can’t hold back the sigh anymore, “Used to it, unfortunately.” 

 

Used to the mate question, the alpha card, the leery gazes, the belittling comments, and most of all, just taking all of it without a word. You’re used to avoiding confrontation and not going out of your way to not cause a scene. But sometimes, you wonder if it’s worse when they don’t know you’re an omega than when they do. Your faith in humanity fails you as you encounter people who decide that being a self-proclaimed alpha gives them a free pass to justified bigotry. 

 

“That is unfortunate.” Sousuke agrees, “But I’m impressed. Great work for your first day.” 

 

You thank him and work on clearing out the rest of your tables before going to clock out, change out of that ludicrous uniform, and head home for the night. The drive home is a good thirty minutes, even in light traffic, but it’s good reflection time. Today was pretty successful, aside from the one creep, and you can see yourself not hating this job for a good while. It’ll be a good, steady income until you can graduate and land something full-time. 

 

You’re reading through an article about management theory and practice when your phone alarm goes off. What incredible timing, since you were just about to finish your last paragraph. After shutting off the alarm, you dig through your bag for the small orange bottle of pills. Per your usual routine at exactly 10:10pm (it’s easy to remember), you pop the pill into your mouth and wash it down with a few sips of your tea before getting up to prepare for a shower. 

 

You go through all the usual motions; scent-neutralizing shampoo and soap, fresh towel, moisturizer, comfy pajamas, and a fresh drink of water. Every means to keep you feeling fresh, hydrated, and your omega disposition under wraps. You’ll sooner die than have your life sabotaged by your biological ranking. 

  
  


*

  
  


Your first week at work proceeds smoothly, with minimal passes from creepy customers. You’re getting along with your coworkers, and Sousuke is a pretty chill manager to work under, so you’re fairly enjoying the job and all the fruits that come with it. In fact, even the uniform starts to become bearable as you get used to staring at the bright lemon color all the time. 

 

It’s the end of a busy weekend day, and you’re there for closing, so you’re prepping the tables for the next day while Sousuke is in his usual spot behind the bar managing the records for the week. You’re folding napkins for each place setting when there’s a knock on the glass door of the restaurant. 

 

The first thing you see when you look up is the most gorgeous pair of amber eyes you’ve ever encountered, slightly hidden behind a messy mop of brown hair. And even without looking down, you can tell this guy has the one of the leanest, tannest, most attractive bodies you have ever seen outside of a magazine or fitness advertisement. His bespectacled friend behind him is thinner in frame and build, but no less beautiful. The little smile and wave the brunette gives you through the glass door is enough to make your heart jump and pump extra blood up to your face. 

 

However, no matter how gorgeous, rules are rules. So you point to the sign on the door and say, “I’m sorry, we’re closed.” 

 

“Oh no, it’s okay, [Name].” Sousuke emerges from the bar with his keys, “That’s Natsuya. He’s the club owner’s son.” 

 

“Oh.” You respond dumbly. Of course the offspring of the rich, successful club owner is more gorgeous than is humanly fair to society. “Welcome.” You bow slightly after Sousuke lets them in with a fist bump greeting. As they chat, you return to your task of napkin setup. You’ve only got about five tables to go. 

 

“And who’s this pretty little thing here?” His voice is so incredibly smooth and deep, but your fist clenches around the napkin anyway. Great, he’s another one of those. “I haven’t seen you around before.” 

 

“Ah, this is our newest addition to the staff,” Sousuke introduces you, and you give a polite nod as you allow Sousuke to explain how you had just been added on this week and that you’ve been doing a great job. 

 

“Glad to have you on board,” Natsuya smiles at you. And you won’t lie, he’s absolutely beaming, shooting at you with his alpha charisma and rich boy confidence. 

 

“Pleased to be here, sir.” You nod. 

 

“Anyway, is the chef still in? I’m starving.” Natsuya finally turns his attention back to Sousuke. 

 

“No, they’re all out for the night.” Sousuke apologizes. 

 

“Eh…” Natsuya groans in disappointment, “Then how about you whip up something, Sousuke? I recall you were a pretty good sous chef before you switched to management.” 

 

“Uh… Sure. If you’re okay with my cooking. I can put something together.” Sousuke shrugs.

 

“Perfect.” Natsuya smiles with a smuggish glint in his eyes. The way he leans back in his chair with an arm across the back makes his presence larger, like he takes up more space. You’re not sure if it’s a physiological need to assert his dominance or just because he can afford to. Like with how he basically just commanded Sousuke to feed him even though it’s after hours. It irks you a little bit.

 

At least his friend has the sense to be courteous about it, “Sorry for the trouble, Sousuke.” 

 

“Don’t worry about it.” He marks his place in the record book and puts it away before heading towards the kitchen. 

 

You’re basically finished with your last task for the day, so you clear your throat and bow to the two men before following Sousuke to quietly announce your departure. “Oh, yeah. Sure. Thanks for the hard work toda—”

 

“Aw, you’re leaving already?” Natsuya’s voice is disappointed but there’s a clear hue of humor in there that hits your ear as a bit condescending. “Why don’t you stay and eat with us before heading home?” 

 

Without taking too long to breathe in some patience from the atmosphere, you turn to answer with the same polite smile, “No, I’m good, sir. Thank you for the off—”

 

“Hey! Here’s an idea!” Natsuya perks up, turning to his friend, “How about we have a cookoff? Like a showdown between Sousuke and the newbie. It’ll be fun.” 

 

That’s an idea, alright. And you are so flabbergasted by the random suggestion that you can’t even comprehend that it does not sound at all like fun. 

 

“Natsuya, I don’t think that’s necessary. At all.” His friend comes to your defense, though he says it in a way that sounds like he’s way too used to this, which doesn’t really reassure you. 

 

“Nonsense, it’ll be fun. How about it, you two? You each prepare a dish for us to taste and we’ll judge them! Let’s get cracking.” He claps his hands like that’ll magically transport you into the kitchen and do his bidding. 

 

You’re starting to wonder if having sensible friends around you will make any difference at all if you’re such a bonehead. You blink slowly, looking between Natsuya and Sousuke and his friend, “Are you serious right now?” 

 

“I’m always serious.” The dumbass smiles. If he wasn’t so fucking gorgeous, maybe you’d have more of your wits about you. Though your body already kind of wants to submit to his alpha aura and please him, reminding you just how omega you are no matter how you hide it. 

 

“I’m off the clock right now, I should really be getting home soon.” You have to at least try to stand your ground, right? It might be pushing your luck as a new staff member, but there are laws for this!

 

“So we’ll pay you overtime starting now. Come on, let’s have at it! I’m really looking forward to this. You seem like you’d be a good cook.” 

 

_ What’s that supposed to mean?  _

 

You want to snap back so badly, but you hide your expression from the big boss’s son by turning your wild eyes to Sousuke, begging him to somehow get you out of this. To your absolute dread, he responds to your despondent look with the  _ he’s-the-boss-it-can’t-be-helped _ shrug. “We can whip up something quick. Come on.” He nods you towards the kitchen. 

 

“That’s our guy!” Natsuya’s voice echoes through the swinging door after you pass through it into the staff area. 

 

You wait for Sousuke to give you a merciful dismissal, or offer to generously cover for you, but you wait in vain. And it doesn’t hit you until the manager actually starts pulling ingredients out of the industrial-sized fridge that he really expects you to follow along in this idiotic competition. 

 

“Sousuke, please tell me this is a joke.” You plead. 

 

He lets out the saddest sigh you have ever heard in your life, “As crazy as it is sometimes, Natsuya’s orders hold the same amount of authority as the owner’s. I’m just sorry you got roped into one of his outlandish requests so early on.” 

 

“‘Requests’?” You repeat in disbelief, “It was a threat disguised as a random idea! Please tell he doesn’t toy with you or the rest of the staff like this all the time.” 

 

“He’s got some weird ideas, I’ll admit, but he’s not a terrible guy. He earnestly believes that this is all in good fun.” 

 

“Pardon my frankness, but I think  _ you’re  _ the earnest one if you don’t see that he’s completely abusing his position as the boss’s boy to mess with people as he pleases.” You make sure to keep your rant under your breath in case your voices leak through to the dining hall, “Sousuke, come on! You work with so many customers that are exactly his type! The arrogant, rich, alpha who goes about life thinking he deserves the world served on a hot, steaming platter at his feet.” 

 

Sousuke is already washing some vegetables and setting up some bowls and plates to hold his ingredients, “I know he doesn’t give off the best impression, but his orders are legitimate. I’ve tried refusing him before, but trust me, it’s more exhausting trying to wear him down than it is to just do what he wants. Because you’ll end up having to follow his orders anyway.” 

 

When you roll yours eyes with an exasperated sigh, Sousuke gives you a sympathetic smile, “I can just cook two different dishes and say that you made the other one. It is the weekend after all, and no one expected for you to get your first Natsuya request at a time like this.” 

 

Well that won’t do. Now you’d just feel guilty for putting all the work on Sousuke when he should be heading home too. “You’d have to leave even later if you’re gonna take on two dishes. He said he’d be paying me overtime anyway.” You relent, walking over to the fridge yourself, “Just tell me what I’m allowed to use, boss.” 

 

Sousuke’s smile is appreciative and even lifts his droopy eyes as he tells you that everything except for the caviar and unopened packages and cans are up for grabs. The rest of the conversation as you both prep settles around more casual topics until you cease talking under the fire of frying and stirring noises. 

 

You settle with making a loco moco style hamburger steak, which is really just the same as the regular hamburger steak you would find at any family restaurant. The only difference is that you piled the steak on top of the rice and topped it off with an egg. And you whipped together a salad with some of the leftover vegetables Sousuke didn’t need and threw some of the clubhouse restaurant dressing on it. 

 

Sousuke had put his back into making an admittedly mouth-watering omurice. He had given you a spoonful to taste and you don’t know what you had expected from your bartender manager, even when Natsuya had said he was in the kitchen for a while before he took up a managerial position, but it wasn’t for the fried rice to taste absolutely scrumptious. You kind of lament over how there wasn’t enough for you to take home for yourself. 

 

Either way, delicious or not, your task was finished and all you had left to do was deliver your food and receive your stupid verdict. Sousuke takes both dishes in his hands and serves them to Natsuya and his friend — who you overhear Natsuya call ‘Nao’ — with a polite, “Please enjoy.” 

 

Natsuya tells you guys not to reveal who made what so they can make a fair judgement, and all you can do is lean against the bar counter beside Sousuke and keep your eyes from rolling into the back of your head. 

 

“Oh man, this is freaking delicious!” Natsuya praises, devouring bites from each dish like they’re both for him. 

 

Nao’s bites are tamer, but no less appreciative, “Mm, I agree. I’m really impressed with how well you guys made the food in such a short amount of time. Especially [Name], who we sprung the request upon so suddenly when you just started here.” 

 

You appreciate the sympathy, but if he really felt that strongly about it, he’d have convinced his dumb friend to let you go when you were supposed to. Still, you offer a smile in thanks anyway. 

 

“Seriously! And you’re not even part of the kitchen staff, huh?” Natsuya barely waits to swallow before speaking. “A good waiter, a great cook, incredibly cute; I might just have to transfer you to have you to myself.” 

 

You have to physically clench your jaw and your fists to keep yourself from gagging at the cheesy wink he gives you. Unable to respond with more than an uncomfortable chuckle, you turn to Sousuke with an even more pained look on your face.  _ Get me the hell of out here _ , you scream with your eyes. 

 

Sousuke gives you a stiff smile before asking, “So, what’s your verdict. It’s getting late and [Name] did say she should be getting home soon.” 

 

“Well, I freaking love both. They’re both such classic dishes, and done so very well. But I gotta go all in with this hamburger steak right here. I would eat this like, at least twice a week if i could.” Natsuya announces like he’s an actual judge who’s qualified to professionally critique food. The longer you stand here, the more brain cells and feeling in your hands you continue to lose. 

 

“I also loved both. I can tell they were both done with a lot of care. But I’m just going to go with the omurice for this one out of personal preference. I enjoy a little more spice in a dish.” Nao follows up. 

 

“Aw, Nao, come on! We can’t just end it in a tie! Then there wouldn’t be a point in having a competition!” 

 

_ There was never a point in having this competition. _ You want to scream into the atmosphere hoping that God or some alien being will hear the desperation in your voice and abduct you away from here. Really, you’ll take anything at this point. 

 

While the guys are still eating and arguing back and forth, an alarm goes off in your pocket. Your phone. Holy crap, is it really that late already?? Clearing your throat, you excuse yourself instead of answering all the boys’ curious gazes when you turn your phone alarm off. 

 

After disappearing through the staff door, you make a break for your locker and turn the locker combination faster than you ever have before. You’re pretty sure you brought your bottle with you today, but there are times when you switch bags and some items are forgotten in the flurry. Luckily, this is not one of those days, and you find the orange bottle right in the pocket where you expected it to be. 

 

You exhale in relief, glad that at least  _ something  _ is going right this evening. Despite the change in scenery, the task is the same. You uncap the bottle to grab a pill and pop it into your mouth, swallowing it down with a gulp from the water bottle in your bag. Checking your wristwatch, you see that it’s just barely 10:11. Just in tim—

 

“Hey! So I hea—” 

 

“Aah!” Your shriek is loud, but even more violent than that is your body’s reaction. Or rather, the results of it. 

 

In your surprise, your body had jolted, spilling over half of the contents of the two open bottles in your hands onto the floor. And though the horror seeps into the very bone marrow of your body as you watch the spilled water soak and partially melt the outer coating of all your fallen white pills on the floor, it only lasts a second before you’re on your knees trying to salvage them. 

 

“Oh wow, I’m sorry about that.” Natsuya, whose shockingly smooth voice had crept up behind you and caused this entire mess, squats beside you and attempts to help you. 

 

“Stop!” You hold your arm out. Even if these pills are salvageable, there is no way in the nine circles of hell that you’re going to let an alpha touch them. “I got it.” 

 

You carefully search for and pick up all the dry ones first, dropping them into one cupped palm, praying that they’ll be okay. Although knowing the types of shoes your coworkers wear and trudge around this locker room in doesn’t make you too eager to put these in your body later. 

 

“Are you sure? I can—” 

 

“I  _ said _ ,” you assert with a hand again, “I got it.” 

 

“Okay, sure.” Natsuya holds his hands up in surrender, simply standing and backing away with that same humorous lilt in his voice. “You got it.”

 

Unable to hold in your irritation any longer, you leave the room with an angry huff to retrieve a clean cup from the kitchen to temporarily hold your dropped pills. You bring it back into the locker room with you, along with some paper towels you use to clean up the rest of the spill and your drenched pills. 

 

When you toss the collected mess into the trash can with a sigh, Natsuya decides to interrupt your desolate mood with his overly energetic voice again, “What were those anyway?” 

 

You grind your teeth together in an attempt to grind away your urge to scream, “Birth control.” You toss your head back in the direction of your locker to tightly cap your bottle of remaining safe pills (now a treacherously low third) and your water. Although you try not to show your now rather obvious annoyance any further, you still can’t stop yourself from slamming the door to your locker closed before turning.

 

To find Natsuya right up in your personal space. You almost trip when you stagger back and away from his face that’s only inches from yours. You gasp loudly and practically slam your back against the locker when you see that, yes, his eyes really are that shade of amber. Deep and dark, yet bright; a perfect contrast with his skin that must have been kissed for years by the sun in an open golf field. 

 

Wait. 

 

“What are you doing?” You blurt out. 

 

“Nothing.” He smiles innocently. 

 

“Well, then could you please back away?” You press even closer against the locker. “You’re rather close.” 

 

“I just wanted to get a closer look at your pretty face,” he brings a finger up to tilt your chin towards him, perfectly parallel to his unfairly gorgeous face. 

 

You reign in all of your irritation and disgust and horror from the previous hour, and it’s just barely enough to get you to push his chest away from you to get some space back, “Well, it’s too close for me. So if you would please just back off.” 

 

The bite in your voice would probably be enough to get you fired at any other place if you said it to the boss’s son, yet somehow, Natsuya still manages to find humor in it, “Okay, my bad.” He steps back and slips his hands into the pockets of his bright, white, golf pants. “Just wanted to stop and let you know we declared the hamburger steak the winner tonight. Congrats.” 

 

“Sure.” You grunt, no longer able to find the courtesy to offer a fake thank you. 

 

“Keep up the great work, [Name].” He winks as he walks backwards towards the exit, “I’ll see you around.” 

 

You use every ounce of brain power you have left to convince yourself that the shiver that just ran down your body was one of disgust. 

  
  


*

  
  


Natsuya has made it an effort to eat at the restaurant at least two to three times a week ever since that cooking contest debacle. Sousuke says that he comes to eat when you’re not on shift too, but admits that he makes those trips a lot quicker than the long meals he has when you are around. He makes such an annoying show of it too, demanding that he be served by his “new favorite waiter” only. 

 

You try to make the interactions as seldom as possible, even with all the endless and unnecessary requests he makes for extra napkins, or another drink, or asking for salt and suddenly changing his mind and saying he meant pepper. He often tries to start an ongoing conversation with you, but you keep your responses to one word answers, and try to find someone else to help and excuse yourself from his table. 

 

Sometimes, he waits for you to finish your shift and offers to take you for a drive around the course, or to buy you an ice cream, or to give you a ride home. You decline every invitation, but the more you interact with the guy, the harder you find it to resist to his charm. Though you leave that up for the fact that you’re no longer on your usual dosage of suppressants. Maybe the weaker dosage is what’s making his smile extra beaming, or his demeanor sexier than before. 

 

You had gone to your doctor and explained the situation, but she had told you that because the prescription you have is rather strong, there’s a limit to how many you can get in a year. That bottle you spilled had contained three months’ worth of suppressants, and you had run out this week, so you had to make do with the much weaker over the counter version instead. Just until you got your refill at the end of next month. 

 

It seems incredibly farther now though, with an annoying alpha on your tail pretty much every other day, but this is the situation you’re in now. You obviously can’t tell anyone about it without outing yourself, so you figure this is yet another struggle you must trudge through alone. Just like you always have. 

 

For the most part though, other than Natsuya, work has been going pretty well for you. The occasional jackass customer comes with the territory in any service industry, but this country club actually has rather pleasant clientele. You’ve started learning names and usual orders, as well as some customers’ usual schedules for when they show up to play golf or use another athletic facility. Everyone has been relatively welcoming, including your coworkers and even a couple of employees who work in other parts of the club. 

 

It would all be more pleasant for you if your body didn’t make you so irritable. Your monthly heat was coming up, and you knew it. Luckily, you had enough pills after the spill to get past one cycle, but this next one would likely affect you more harshly on this weaker suppressant. You can only pray that others won’t notice, since you’re still too new of an employee to request time off. 

 

It’s been rough though. You’ve been waking up at night more often, sensitive to simple brushes against your arm when passing by someone at work or otherwise, chewing through packs of gum like they’re cigarettes, and masturbating. A lot. It helps a little, but you’re starting to worry about how strong your heat is going to hit you in just a few days. 

 

And to top it all off, Natsuya has been amping up his flirting every time he sees you. Which you really don’t get, since you see him with other girls rather often. Sometimes he even introduces them to you at the restaurant and flirts with you in front of them. Though it’s strange because the girls he hangs out with are nothing like you, wearing cute, tight athletic clothes while you’re buttoned up in your ugly yellow tie and vest. 

 

And unlike you, they smell clearly and proudly omega, like they’re working and cashing in on the easy attraction. Of course, there’s an occasional beta or even alpha that he brings along to accompany him, but for the most part, they’re usually beautiful and confident omegas who work their biological roles to their full advantage. It’s something you both admire and berate. 

 

Sure, there’s nothing wrong with using your body or its pheromones to get what you want if you choose to, but you can’t help but think that there’s more to life than that. You had always grown up thinking that if you were born into this role, you were at a disadvantage; whether it be in the workplace, a social setting, a political debate, if you were tacked with that omega label, you were automatically seen differently. People would assume that your body could overtake your ability to be, think, work, act, and use that prejudice to keep you at the bottom of the totem pole. 

 

Nowadays, it’s changing. There are omegas all over the place who are loud and proud and completely confident and secure with using their biological role as a vehicle towards their own success. Omegas are using their alpha-bewitching abilities to move up in the world, and prove that they too are capable of attaining more, even if it’s in a different way. 

 

You respect all of that — the movement, the empowerment, the role models — but you have still experienced way too much discrimination in your lifetime to go about using your omega identity as your first pitch. There have been too many grabby hands, rude remarks, attempted assaults, unjust rejections, and social challenges that have just led you to hide that part of yourself away until necessary. 

 

You were tired of the mate question being part of your interviews, tired of seeing all the employers exchange considering looks and wondering if you’d become more of a liability than you were worth, tired of the rejection letters disguised as ‘unavailable at this time’ when it was really about ‘you were not the right fit.’ So along came the pills, and the patches, and the strong detergents, and the shampoos and lotions and sprays, all in an effort to simply increase your chances. 

 

Once your chance came, you worked your ass off to prove that you deserved it. If you did an amazing job and proved how vital your contributions were, you wouldn’t need to worry about your omega status, because everyone would always know how valuable you were as a person. At least, you hoped that it would turn out that way… But so far, so good. 

 

You don’t need to seduce someone like Natsuya to earn your keep. You’ll do it through good, old-fashioned, sincere hard work. And you’ll keep at it through this suppressant reflux. Nothing can and nothing will stop you. 

 

That doesn’t stop Natsuya from trying though. He corners you one evening after closing. You had finished all your tasks and even clocked out, and you were going to bring your work clothes back home with you for a wash tonight. But just as you close your locker door and turn around, you gasp and drop your things very much like the first time Natsuya surprised you here. 

 

It really shouldn’t make your heart pound when he deftly catches your uniform in his hands, but somehow, it does. And it beats even faster when he brings the clothes up to his nose for a gentle whiff. You find yourself holding your breath as he slowly brings his eyes up to stare deeply into yours, “So you  _ are  _ an omega.” 

 

You try not to visibly gulp or stutter when you reply, “S-So what if I am?” And you fail to do either.

 

“You admit it?” He smirks to one side of his face, cocking an eyebrow. 

 

“What’s the point in hiding if you know?” You struggle to keep your voice steady. 

 

“Well, I didn’t. At first.” he shrugs, resting the hand that isn’t holding your uniform against the locker beside your head. “Just thought you were on some PMS type thing, like betas get when they’re on their periods.” 

 

You want to scoff and roll your eyes at the comment, but something about this position he has, towering over you with an arm trapping you against this wall of lockers… is so inexplicably  _ alpha _ , and your stupid body refuses to do anything but submit to his aura. 

 

“But then, I started smelling something new around the restaurant. Something light, sweet. Something that definitely wasn’t on the menu, or like anyone I’ve ever smelled before.” 

 

The more he speaks, the hotter your body gets under his gaze. And when you see him lick his lips — more out of habit than anything — you can feel something build and burst in waves within your body. And Natsuya can tell. You know he can, because his eyes suddenly grow darker than you’ve ever seen them, and all you can think about is how much he looks like a predator. Utterly ravenous. 

 

When he dives in to nose at your neck, you’re completely frozen. Your body won’t move, probably doesn’t want to move, as Natsuya takes an incredibly deep inhale, and shudders as he breathes back out against your neck. His hot breath against your skin leaves your body trembling and even more helpless, almost completely at his mercy. 

 

“My god… I have never,  _ ever  _ smelled something so…” The way his voice croaks like he’s as weak as you are makes you want to melt right against him. But the real killer is when he leans up to pierce you with his eyes as he finishes his thought, “... delicious.” 

 

You release a sound that’s between a whimper and a scream when your body threatens to collapse beneath your feet, and in a completely reflexive response, push Natsuya away from you. Your face and body feel like they’re on fire as you try to catch your breath when you steal your clothes back from him and run out of the locker room through the back exit without another word. 

 

Even when you break into the cool night air, you don’t stop running. The wind feels good on your skin and the exercise helps match up to your racing heart. It doesn’t stop thrumming even when you get to your car, and you’re wondering if you should just run the rest of the way home. Because you sure feel like you have the energy for it. 

 

“Fuck!” You’re breathless, pacing ruthlessly in circles around your car, “Fucking fuck! What the fuck was that!”

 

You continue to just fast-walk and shout random nothings in your breathless voice until you get it all out and can finally take some deep breaths again. Placing a hand on your chest, you will your heartbeat to calm down with several calculated, deep breaths. Once your heart rate is relatively back to normal, you have room to think again. 

 

How the hell did he do that to you? What kind of fucking alpha is he?? You’ve been around alphas before, been attracted to them, flirted with them, even dated them before. But none of them have ever had that kind of effect on you before. The kind of power to make you want to just stop and obey his every command, to lower your head to him, to hear him tell you how much your scent pleases him… 

 

Is it because you’re off of your usual prescription? Is that what’s making it hit you that much harder? That probably makes sense, since it’s been a couple years now since you’ve had a natural heat. Even if it was the same intensity as your natural ones before, you’d probably just feel it a lot more harshly since it’s been just that long. 

 

But wow. That was really fucking intense, and you were nowhere near ready for it. Natsuya seemed a little different too. As annoyingly playful as he was, he hadn’t followed you into the locker room since that first day that you met. He wasn’t the usual dense, frivolous, inconsiderate, rich kid he usually acted like. This time, he was… fierce. 

 

There wasn’t the usual humor in his voice or playfulness in his eyes. In fact, if you try to remember, you don’t recall seeing much of that pretty amber in those dark eyes of his. They were blown in black the moment you had released that small wave of pheromones from your body. And when he spoke thereafter… his entire presence had just consumed you. 

 

If your hands hadn’t reacted the way they did in their fight or flight response, who knows what could be happening to you right now? The thought makes you shudder, though you can’t consciously identify the right reason. 

 

When you get in the car and toss your uniform into the passenger seat, you take a deep breath before coming to the conclusion that you will avoid Natsuya at all costs the next time you go to work. That was way too much to even comprehend, and you can’t have it happening again. Letting him disrupt your work will easily turn into your biggest problem. 

  
  


*

  
  
  


Until the first day of your heat, that is. You wake up feeling like you have a fever, but all over you body. Even your room smells more pungent than it usually does. It takes some effort to even roll over and sit up on your bed, because the action just puts a strangely satisfying pressure onto your core that holds you in your place. Fucking  _ sitting up _ is making you horny. 

 

Oh, this just won’t do. With all of your willpower, you step into the shower and jack yourself off for a good ten minutes until you feel like you’re at a bearable temperature again. The rest of the time, you use extra scent-neutralizing products in your hair and skin to wash away the strong omega B.O. You’re extra generous with the deodorant and body spray, and you only blow dry your hair about halfway to complete dryness, hoping some moisture will keep the scent locked in. Though you tie it up in a tight bun for insurance anyway. 

 

However, even with all the neutralizing patches and clean clothes sprayed with perfume and drinking more water than usual, your body is still restless as you drive to work. After you park, you go against your better judgement and pop one more of the drugstore suppressants, begging the gods for it to please tone down this goddamn force of nature that is your body. 

 

And with that last prayer, you step out of your car and into the country club grounds. You go about your day as normally as possible, greeting everyone, waiting on and serving customers properly, making light conversation, all while ignoring the extraordinary heat building up within your body that has you keeled over your knees in the breakroom every couple hours. 

 

You manage to hide your anguish, at least, but somehow, your scent keeps leaking through your patches and even overpowers the perfume a bit, and you don’t miss all the wrinkling noses and curious expressions of customers and coworkers alike as you fill the room with an omega scent. Ironically, it attracts a few more customers than usual through the day, and if it weren’t for the fact that you were combusting from the inside out, you’d be delighted at the extra business. 

 

Sousuke and your coworkers come up to ask you if you’re okay several times, some even offer mints or sprays (like you haven’t fucking tried it all already!!!), but you assure them that you’re fine. Even though you’re obviously not fine, but you’re almost there. You’re approaching your last two hours of shift, and then you’ll be home free to get off and stink up your whole apartment to yourself. You can see the finish line every time you look back up at the clock. 

 

Just when you’re starting to feel optimistic is exactly when Natsuya decides to walk into the restaurant with a gorgeous, young omega you actually recognize. She’s been at the country club with Natsuya before, sometimes even goes golfing or swimming when he’s not around. And of course, she looks and smells like a fucking goddess. Probably makes your heat stench smell like a compost bin. 

 

You don’t know why you have such a self-deprecating thought, or why you feel such a pang in your heart when you see Natsuya walk in with his arm around the girl, or why your chest tightens even more when he smiles right at you as he calls you over to have him seated. “Right this way,” you lead him to his usual table without much argument. Or strength in your voice, for that matter. 

 

“Hina, you remember [Name] here, right?” Natsuya pats you on the shoulder before stepping around you to take his seat. As he does, he hand drags down the length of your arm and you have to physically clench your entire body in order to keep your whimper locked in your throat. 

 

Strangely enough, Natsuya seems to notice your sudden stiffness and pulls his hand away. Stranger still, your body cries out when he removes his touch from you, like it was unjustly torn from where it was supposed to be. What is wrong with you? 

 

“Of course I remember,” The beautiful omega smiles, though there’s an edge to her eyes. “You talk about her every time we’re here. Even when we’re not here, sometimes.” 

 

Her voice is tight and high with ingenuine enthusiasm, and even in your heated daze, you can feel the hostility coming at you like bricks. You clear your throat to avoid further interaction, “Can I start you off with some drinks?” 

 

“Tonic water, please.” Hina says immediately. “Slice of lime.” 

 

“Of course. And for you, Natsuya?” You can barely get yourself to turn in his direction, afraid of how his eyes will affect you. 

 

“Give you three guesses.” Natsuya leans back in his chair, resting his elbows on the arms and raising his head back slightly to look up at you. He belongs on a magazine, the way he strokes the front of his chin just below his bottom lip, like the cover of Sports Illustrated with his legs spread wide in those tacky golf pants. 

 

“How about your regular Asahi beer?” You offer, trying to ward your attention away from his intense eye-fucking. 

 

Lazily, he reaches out his arm closest to you to slide the back of one finger down the front of your apron. “Strike one…” 

 

It’s fucking crazy, because your body shakes internally. Even through the layers of both the apron and your pants, you can still feel the heavy intent behind the light touch against your thigh. If you don’t keep it together, you could very well have your next fetal position collapse right here in the dining hall. 

 

“Okay then, how about a Stella Artois?” You start mentally listing out all the beers you know in existence to distract yourself from Natsuya’s existence. 

 

To no avail, when he strokes your thigh again in the same fashion, but with two fingers this time, “Strike two…” This time, you actually squirm away a step, clearing your throat again. “Last guess.” He smiles up at you with flirty eyes and a playful smile, utterly and blatantly enjoying himself. 

 

That expression on his face is so incredibly handsome, and it makes you a little sick. You hate this. You hate how your body is taking control of you. You hate how Natsuya is completely taking advantage of that and humiliating you right in public. You hate how he is completely using either you or Hina to get a reaction out of the other. And you completely, absolutely, wholeheartedly hate how much your body wants him to the point of jumping him right here and now. 

 

“A water, then.” You rasp, stepping back once more, just in case he tries to touch you again. You don’t think you can handle another second of this. 

 

He laughs, totally amused. You fucking hate it. “Alright, I’ll take it.” 

 

You pivot away without another word and head to the bar to put the drinks together. In those short seconds of solidarity, you will your breathing to calm down. It takes a minute, but you finally have your heartbeat at a reasonable human rate again when you bring the drinks over to Natsuya’s table. “Ready to order?” You ask as you set the drinks down. 

 

“Hey, you got me my Asahi after all!” Natsuya brightens up at the sight of the bottle. “You know me better than I thought.” he winks. 

 

This time, you hear Hina clear her throat, so you turn your attention to her while she recites her order. Thankfully, Natsuya doesn’t pull anymore teasing jokes this time, so you get off easy. You take off with their orders to hand over to the kitchen when another customer waves you over to collect his card for the bill. “Thank you, sir.” You collect it on the way.  

 

After clipping the orders to the edge where the chefs can see it, you run the card and return to the other table with the receipt and pen on the tray for them to sign. However, the man fumbles with the items when he grabs for them, dropping the pen and his card in the process, “Oops.” 

 

“I’ll grab that for you,” You bend down to pick up the card first, then turn a few degrees to grab the pen before you feel a light smack on your behind. 

 

You jump with a yelp, at a higher pitch then you’d ever want anyone to hear. Before you can even come to understand what had just happened, the customer and his friend are already laughing proudly, “Now that’s nice. A cute, little omega ass like that.” 

 

You can feel your vision turning red. And then it starts to blur, which is when you realize tears are beginning to form in your eyes. But like hell you’re going to leave the room crying before you get to say your piece, “Sir,” You slam the card and pen back down on the table, “I’ll kindly ask you to refrain from inappropriate behavior like that.” 

 

You absolutely  _ hate  _ yourself for how your voice breaks at the end of your sentence. It makes the humiliation sting that much more, because you tried to fight for yourself but you came off as weak once again. You hate how you can feel your fear and shame and horror wafting off of your body as your composure slowly starts to break down. You hate this,  _ you hate this! _

 

Even so, you still have enough pride to turn away from every table that you know is watching, sniffing, and waltz right through the swinging staff door to hurry into the breakroom and slam it behind you. The tears fall from your eyes just before the door slams shut, and you don’t even make it to the couch before falling to the floor to hug your knees to your chest. 

 

You’re crying like such a baby. Your heart hurts, your body hurts, your mind is blasted with all kinds of negative emotions, and you just hate living like this. You want your suppressants back. You want your control back. You want— 

 

The door flies open and you already know who it is before he slams the door closed and crouches down beside you. You could smell him from behind the door. Hell, you could smell him when you left the dining hall in your sad, dramatic exit. And sure enough, you know that his smell is the only thing that will calm you down right now. 

 

Natsuya carries you in your balled up fetal position over to the couch and sets you on his lap, leaning your back against the arm of the couch. “Shhh, shhh… It’s okay, shhh…” He whispers to you, rubbing at your back, gently nuzzling your cheek, swirling his thumb around the side of your ankle until you set your legs down. 

 

It’s soothing, his voice, his touch, his warmth, his scent. All of him… You just want to be held and comforted and petted by him for hours on end. You want this kind of caring attention and protection from a big, strong alpha like him. And of course, you hate yourself for wanting that, but you let yourself cry into his chest for the time being. Just for now. 


	2. The Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> omega gets a different taste of alpha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> excuse the delayed update, i've been going through a big life transition with a new job in a new place, but i came back for you guys. right after his spotlight color came out too. 
> 
> and once again, much love and appreciation to tiffany, for beta-reading and giving me so much help with this fic ;;

When you come to, you realize you had fallen asleep. The next thing you realize is that Natsuya had taken your hair out of its bun, and it was now curtained around your face in messy waves. And the most atrocious thing of all, is that you wake up in a good mood because you’re surrounded by Natsuya’s scent. 

 

Or at least a better mood than you’ve been in these last few weeks. You feel calmer, less like there are little bugs crawling under your skin and biting at you to get laid. Almost at peace, and you’re so relaxed that you don’t want to move a single muscle from this coiled up position in Natsuya’s lap. But you realize you have no choice when you hear the alpha take a deep, resonant whiff from above you.

 

You pull away as slowly and gently as you can, rubbing at the dried tears on your face to delay looking up at Natsuya for as long as possible. Even when you have nothing left to rub at though, you still can’t bring yourself to look up at him. The shame and humiliation are still so fresh in your mind, like a clean cut in the wall of your memories that’ll take weeks to heal. 

 

When you do nothing but look down at your lap for several seconds, Natsuya rubs your back gently and speaks in the most tender voice you’ve ever heard, “Hey, are you alright?” 

 

You try to croak out a reply but you have to pause to clear your throat from the buildup of phlegm and emotion, “I’ll be okay. I’m sorry about that.” You make to get off of his lap but he keeps you fastened on top of him, as if it wasn’t already hard enough to get away from him with your omega hormones trickling out of your body for a taste of his alpha presence. 

 

“No.” He commands, and your body stiffens reflexively in obedience. Fuck yourself. “None of that was your fault. At all. I had that jackass kicked out, and I’m putting a ban on his membership.” 

 

“What? Why would you go that far?” Your mind is shocked but your body is delighted, as if he accomplished some heroic gesture in your name. 

 

“Because no one should ever do that to you. Or anyone else, as a matter of fact. It’s absolutely unacceptable, and I won’t stand to have you treated that way.” Can his voice get any more attractive with that commanding alpha timbre? 

 

As much as you completely and wholeheartedly agree that no one should ever be subjected to that kind of treatment, it doesn’t change the fact that you couldn’t defend yourself. It was your own omega scent stinking up the room that gathered so much attention in the first place, and likely incited a lot of attention from the alphas in the club who caught a whiff from nearby. Before this heat, no one had even known or questioned if you were an omega, but now there was just no hiding or denying it anymore. You feel outed, betrayed by your own body. 

 

“Put me on the couch.” You sigh, and to your surprise, Natsuya follows your directions without a hitch in breath. His strong arms come underneath you to gently lift and place you onto the couch beside him. Guess alphas still have their weaknesses too — needy omegas. 

 

“Listen Natsuya,” you speak up after another few moments of thought, “I really appreciate what you did for me, with both that customer and coming here to calm me down, but I can take care of myself. You don’t need to come to my rescue.” 

 

“And by ‘take care of yourself,’ do you mean running off to the breakroom to cry alone while you’re in the middle of a heat?” You bite your lip at the truth in his scolding voice. “Why did you even come to work today? You’re clearly not well, and you need to pass through this without the risk of jerkwads trying to make passes at you. Or even something worse.” 

 

“I can’t, I’m still new. I’d be fine if I still had my suppressants. This is just a temporary thing, and it’ll be back to normal when I’m back on them.” You try to sound convincing, though you know in both your head and your body that you won’t be getting your reputation back. Once people know, they know forever. And who knows how they’ll treat you in the future?

 

“Is that what all those pills were before? They weren’t birth control?” 

 

Instead of answering, you just turn your head away from Natsuya to stare at the wall, hoping he’ll notice how you guys need to restock on napkins rather than the obvious answer to his question. 

 

“You have been driving me nuts, you know that?” Natsuya says. 

 

You whip your head back at him with an almost angry expression, “Excuse me?” 

 

Sliding his forearm onto the back of the couch behind you, Natsuya leans in closer to you once again, causing you to tilt away against the arm of the couch. “I had been wondering why I suddenly started feeling such a strong connection to you. I thought maybe you just smelled really good, or you had some sort of natural charm to you, or your omega scent was just a little stronger than some others. But I’m realizing that it’s much more than that.” 

 

You gulp. You’re scared to ask, and yet, “What do you mean?” 

 

“When I first met you,” he places a gentle hand on your lower thigh, just above your knee, “I was already drawn to you. At first, it seemed like simple attraction, chemistry that you can have with just about anybody. But then…” 

 

He begins to slowly stroke small circles on your thigh, and you can feel a coil building within your core, “It started to get stronger. I couldn’t explain it, but I just kept wanting to see you, mess with you a little bit. And then your scent started getting stronger… And the more I was around you, the more I wanted to stay around you. Even when you weren’t around, I somehow couldn’t get you out of my head. It was so foreign to me.” 

 

He stops stroking, in lieu of sliding his hand up your thigh just one inch. A single inch, but it’s like the tease of a lifetime. You feel like you’re screaming internally, but all you can do is continue listening. “And then I found out you were an omega. It started to make sense, if only a little. But I had to check for myself. That day, in the locker room… Your scent was more potent than ever, and it was the most amazing thing I had ever smelled. It drove me nuts.

 

“After you had run off, I couldn’t stop thinking about you all night,” He brings the hand that was lying on the back of the couch to brush your hair back, taking a moment to stare deeply into your eyes. Like he wants to share something with you and only you. “And then today… Well, it all but confirmed my suspicions.” 

 

Why does his hand on your face and in your hair feel so good? It’s actually making it harder to concentrate on what he’s saying. You really want to just let your head lean to the side and fall into his touch. 

 

“I think we’re bondmates.” 

 

Now that blows your eyes wide open and shocks you awake. “What?” You pull away from his hand that was tucking your hair behind your ear. 

 

“You heard me. Tell me you weren’t at all affected that night in the locker room.” He challenges. 

 

You could, but you both know that you’d be lying. So you settle for silence as an answer once again.

 

“And today, when I brought Hina in, you were clearly upset.” 

 

“I was not.” You spit reflexively, though you don’t know why you feel the need to defend yourself.

 

“If you saw the look on your face and your body language, you’d think otherwise.” He tilts his head, regaining some humor in his smile, “Especially when I touched you. I had a feeling you were in a heat since your scent might as well have been sprayed around the room like an air freshener, but I still wanted to mess with you a little bit. Little did I realize, the joke was on me. The way you reacted to my touch, I almost wanted to lick your scent right off of my own fingers…

 

“Though of course, the bond thing was still up in the air. I was still toying with the idea, because it had never crossed my mind before. But then,” Natsuya’s eyes harden, and you’re starting to feel the intensity build in the atmosphere around his aura, “That bastard… What he did…” 

 

Surprisingly, he has to take a breath to look away, and he squeezes at your thigh with his large hand for comfort. It makes your heart jolt and your walls clench, but like hell you’re going to acknowledge that. “Fuck, I have never been so angry in my fucking  _ life _ . I wanted to kill him. I wanted to— Ugh.” He runs a hand through his hair in frustration, and you’re hypnotized by how cleanly it falls back into his eyes. 

 

“So now I’m sure.” He exhales, turning back to you, “If that were anybody else, I wouldn’t have reacted at all in the same way. But something about you… It was like my body reacted first, and I couldn’t stop this… this surging need to protect you. To keep you safe, close to me.” 

 

It almost sounds like Natsuya’s the one who needs the comfort now, and he comes in for it. Leaning into you, he rests his face in the crook of your neck and takes another deep whiff, wrapping the arm that isn’t still on your thigh around the back of your waist. “I came to you as fast as I could.” His voice is muffled against your neck, but you hear him loud and clear, in every possible way. 

 

As loathe as you are to admit it, to let yourself succumb to Natsuya’s body and his voice and his presence, you close your eyes for a beat and just sink into the feeling. Just for a moment. You can handle this much after what you had just gone through. 

 

However, when Natsuya’s hand creeps higher up your leg, you have to physically wrench him away from you in the gentlest way possible. Which really doesn’t make sense, but you can’t bring yourself to be rude to the guy who pretty much just saved you during a mental breakdown. “You can’t come to such a wild conclusion from just that.” You say. 

 

“And what makes you think it’s a ‘wild conclusion’?” Natsuya cocks an eyebrow.

 

“We still barely know each other. And… to restate the obvious, I’m in heat. It could just be the pheromones messing with your head. It’s not unusual for an alpha to react strongly around an unclaimed omega in heat.” 

 

Natsuya doesn’t seem to approve of your argument, “Well, that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve still felt connected to you since we met. Or that you are unlike any other omega I’ve ever been with.” 

 

“It doesn’t matter. There is no way that I’m going to believe that we’re… bondmates. Or whatever.” The word feels heavy and weird on your tongue. You had never sought after something like that, since you’ve always been preoccupied with yourself first. “And like I said, I’m grateful for what you did for me. But whatever this is, it needs to stop here.” 

 

“Why are you pushing me away?” Natsuya demands, and every reflex in your body tells you to shrink back, but you have to hold your ground. You have to. “You just said yourself that you’re unclaimed. And it’s clear as day that you want me too.” 

 

“As if!” You scoff, scooting further back against the arm of the couch, though you really can’t get much farther away from him in this spot. “Even if I ever did want an alpha — which I  _ don’t  _ — I would gladly toss myself over a sea cliff before I chose you.” 

 

Then he plays the dirtiest trick on you. He glides his hand up to the highest part of your thigh and squeezes, prompting a horribly timed whimper from your throat and a violent shiver from your body. God fucking damn this stupid omega body of yours!! 

 

“Is that so?” He smirks, rolling his lip through his teeth, “I find that hard to believe when I can  _ smell  _ how wet you are. But even if you say you don’t want me or any other alpha, you need me.” 

 

The teasing in his voice is back, along with that stupid playboy smile you’ve seen him use with every other bitch he’s had on his arm. And you’re reminded of all the reasons why you don’t want anything to do with Natsuya. Even when he tries to slip his long fingers between your thighs and your body shivers in reaction, you know better. 

 

“No.” You grit your teeth, “I don’t. And I never will.” 

 

Fighting against all your senses and physiological needs to keep Natsuya’s body against yours, you stand and march out of the breakroom, feeling like you’ve just walked through an ice-cold waterfall. 

  
  


*

  
  


After you leave, Natsuya takes several minutes to gather his composure before he has enough strength to stand and leave the room that’s completely saturated in your scent. He returns to the dining hall where Sousuke is concentrating intensely on the notebook he’s looking through. 

 

“Hey Sousuke, thanks for holding the fort down.”

 

“Not a problem, Natsuya.” Sousuke nods, “Though it seems like Hina took her leave.” 

 

“Oh, right.” He had completely forgotten, “I’ll have to call her to apologize later.” 

 

“Right.” Sousuke replies as he returns his attention to the notebook. 

 

“What is it that you’re so focused on right now?” Natsuya looks over the manager’s shoulder to try and read the chart drawn.

 

“Some shift changes.” Sousuke sighs, “What with [Name]’s situation right now, we’re going to have to give her some time off this week and have her make up the hours when she’s… ready again.” 

 

“I agree, she’s not fit to work around so many other people right now, but putting all those hours on her later is going to be much harder on her.” Natsuya reasons. 

 

“Yeah...” Sousuke gives his sort-of boss a curious glance, seemingly surprised at Natsuya’s uncharacteristic attentiveness. But he turns back to his current task, clearly at a loss, “And she’s a great worker. But it isn’t looking good for anyone right now. And I know it’s not her fault but, it’s getting hard because I’ve been getting some complaints...” 

 

Natsuya wracks his brain for some sort of solution, and a delighted smile crosses his face when he finds it, “Well, I have an idea.” 

  
  


*

  
  


“I’m going to be… what?” You blink, completely baffled, when Sousuke tells you that you’ve been transferred to another position in the country club for the time being. Which isn’t the worst thing in the world, until you find out that it is. 

 

“One of the stops of the Japan Golf Tour is going to be held here in a couple of weeks, so you’ll just be assisting Natsuya in planning that event for a little while.” Sousuke explains, “It won’t be too hard since the event is just one day, but there’s definitely a lot of work that goes into it. Natsuya said he’d need the help, so we decided you were the best option. It might be a good experience, since you’re learning about business management and all that.” 

 

You try arguing with Sousuke back and forth, but always end up with the same answer, which is what leads you to the villa side of the country club. Reception at the event hall had already been expecting you and directed you to a room on the second floor of the administrative offices. They had been polite, but you still caught them wrinkling their noses when you got a bit close. You had been naive to hope that the extra dose of store-bought suppressants and the hourly change of patches would disguise your strongest heat day yet. 

 

When they leave you to enter the room on your own, you’re caught up in the spaciousness of the office. The windows are tall, reaching the ceiling and bathing the room in endless natural light, and the interior is pretty clean and organized. The long desk on the right side of the room is free of clutter, likely due to the abundance of drawers it’s connected to. And there’s a long sofa with a coffee table placed on the left. 

 

You don’t get much time to admire it, however, because you’re suddenly pushed right back up against the door you had just come through by an aggressive alpha. Natsuya is pressing his face right into your neck and breathing in your scent like it comes with an oxygen mask. His hands pin your hips to the door and you’re helpless to his Herculean strength and hypnotic aura. “My god,” he gasps, like the past 36 hours of your absence had kept him trapped like a starving, caged animal. “It’s like seeing the sun again.” 

 

You don’t know what comes over you. A moan slips right out of your mouth when you hear those words. Right now, with his delicious skin and scent pressed right against you like a soothing gel for your heated body fever, you can relate to the feeling. You can’t help but take a deep whiff of that calming alpha scent and relax against him. 

 

It’s such a sudden charge of pleasured relief to your system that you can barely register how his hand moves down your thigh to drag your knee up to his waist, making more room for him to scoot between your legs. “Aah!” you arch involuntarily against him at the foreign pressure against your core. 

 

Oh my god, it’s been too long since you’ve felt this good. So fucking long since you’ve had an alpha between your legs, it’s almost too much. When Natsuya gives his hips a roll right into your core, your nerves shoot out of your skin, and you all but scream. Your lights almost go out in your head for a second before you can catch your breath and come to your senses. 

 

“S-Stop, stop.” You say weakly, pushing him away by the shoulders. You’re positive that there was not a drop of strength in you that would be able to actually push Natsuya away, so he’s probably the one who decided to heed your request. 

 

You take a few moments to calm your breathing and fix your clothes, your hair, your patches,  _ anything  _ to distract you from your racing heart. “Listen,” You start, “I’m not here to mess around with you, I’m here to work.” 

 

“That you are.” At least he sounds a little out of breath too. “Glad to have you aboard.” 

 

“No! No, that’s the thing. I’m not here to be your lackey. Or your secretary, or project assistant or whatever it is. I’m here to tell you to transfer me back to the restaurant.” 

 

“Well, no-can-do for that one, beautiful.” Natsuya finally takes a step back, which you greatly appreciate, but it also gives you a clearer, unneeded view of his top three undone shirt buttons. “You are all mine until we get this JGT event sorted.” His smirk is even hotter up close when he tilts your chin up with a finger, and you hate it. 

 

“Stop!” You move further away from the alpha by taking several steps into the office space. “I don’t know what the hell you thought you could accomplish by bringing me here, but I am not going to fuck around with you. I need this job, and I won’t sabotage myself by letting you get into my head while I’m in this stupid heat!” 

 

“Well,” Natsuya finally starts stepping away, and he stops to turn and lean against the arm of the armchair adjacent to the coffee table and sofa. “The way I see it, if you want to keep this job, I’m probably your best bet.” 

 

Is he…? “Are you threatening me?” 

 

“No, of course I’m not threatening you.” Natsuya reassures, though he still has that smartass smile plastered on his face, “But think about it. You’re in heat, you’re bothering not only your fellow coworkers, but more importantly, the customers. It’s easy to aggravate aggressive behavior when there are omega pheromones saturating the place, as I’m sure you know.” 

 

You clench your jaw. Of course you know. You’ve been reminded of it your entire life. But you don’t answer. 

 

“Now I won’t force you to work with me if you truly don’t want to, but I’m basically helping save you from getting fired, because apparently, there has never been an omega this pungent before.” He cocks his head, daring you to challenge his statement when he’s likely received the complaint from your fellow staffmates. 

 

When you don’t retort, he continues, “But if you work as my assistant for the week or two it takes to prepare for the event, your heat will pass with minimal repercussions around customers or staff, and you’ll be able to return to the restaurant later. It’s a perfect setup, because one: you get to keep your job, and two: you get to be around me, your bondmate.” 

 

Not this again. “You are not my bondmate.” 

 

“With the way you reacted to me earlier? I’d beg to differ.” He smirks again. 

 

“I’m in heat! I would react that way to anyone who literally threw themselves at me like that.” 

 

“Then why did you sniff me back?” 

 

Shit, you totally did that, didn’t you. “I didn’t!” 

 

“Sure, you didn’t.” 

 

You turn away in a huffy growl before facing him again, “Will you just drop it?! You are not my bondmate.” 

 

“How can you be so sure?” He cocks another challenging eyebrow. You’re getting real tired of how good his face looks even when he’s annoying you. 

 

“How can  _ you  _ be so sure?” You throw back. 

 

He shrugs, “It’s just a feeling. I can tell.” When you snort and avert your incredulous eyes away for a moment, Natsuya stands and approaches you again. This time, he rests his hand on your upper arm. It’s an innocent touch, yet you still find yourself shuddering from it. 

 

“Listen,” he lowers his voice, “I know it’s probably hard to believe, but I mean it when I say I have never felt this way before. I’ve been with plenty of omegas, and a handful of betas and alphas too, but I have never felt as strongly about anyone as I do with you. I’ve lived so frivolously, trying to prove to the world and my family that I’m not locked down by this law of nature and that I can live as I please, but… as different as we are, or how much we clash, we’re connected to each other. And in these past few weeks, as much as I’ve tried to be with other girls, or to distract myself with work or friends or parties, I always find myself coming back to you.” 

 

The tenderness in his voice compels you to believe him, much like your body compels you to jump into Natsuya’s arms and rub yourself all over him. But you know that that’s not enough. 

 

“No matter what you may think, there is no way that I would ever choose you as a mate. Pair bond or not.” 

 

“What? Why not?” Finally, it seems that he’s been thrown for a loop. 

 

“Because I don’t like you. It’s that simple.” 

 

“Not to me.” He turns you back to face him when you try to shrug out of his touch. “What about me do you not like?” 

 

“Are you serious?” You’re dumbfounded. Though the more you think about it, the more you understand how he’d be unfamiliar with rejection. 

 

“Why don’t you like me? I’ve been nothing but kind to you.” 

 

You have to whip your head away at the shock. He is unbelievable. “I don’t know what ‘kindness’ is to you, but I don’t think that manipulating someone through their rank, role, or emotions to get what you want is part of the definition.” 

 

“What are you talking about?” 

 

What baffles you the most about his entirely clueless look is that you’re not shocked, you’re disappointed. For what reason, you can’t discern. Maybe you had hoped there was something in there beneath that airheaded, rich kid demeanor. 

 

“If you really need me to explain how you use your position as the country club owner’s son to get people to do things like cook for you after hours, or lead them on to incite reactions out of other girls, or pull them out of their assigned work for your personal entertainment without any consideration of the people you use, then our conversation was over before it even started.” Your voice is as hard as your eyes. 

 

He lets you go this time when you step away. 

 

“Either way, it doesn’t matter. I’m not here to call you out for being entitled, or petty, or lonely. I’m here to work. So if you don’t have an actual job for me to do, I’ll go find something else to do.” You’re able to stand your ground and speak more clearly with a few more feet between you. 

 

“Lonely? I am not lonely.” Natsuya chooses to focus on that detail and let your entire point fly over his head. Though with all the air inside of it, you suppose it’d have gotten lost anyway. 

 

“Natsuya, you just told me that you’ve been trying to prove that you can live how you want despite the laws of nature. Trust me, as an omega, I know what it feels like to be screwed over by biology. I know that it’s an uphill battle always having to work twice as hard as someone else to stand at equal footing for the same opportunities. And I  _ definitely  _ know what it feels like to do it on your own.” You eye him up and down, noting that he’s styled up in designer brand clothing as he usually is. 

 

“And even though you were born at the top of the tier, even though you have money, friends, status, all the time in the world to fuck around and get lost in pleasure, and you walk around with that airheaded grin on your face… you’re still looking for something more. And maybe you think you’ll find that in a bond mate or something...” You meet his eyes, finally in control of the conversation for once, “But believe me when I tell you, I know loneliness when I see it.”

 

Maybe that was all a bit much to throw at him at once, but you’re impressed with yourself that you got the forever-smug Kirishima Natsuya to look baffled. Yet, the torn look in his eyes makes you feel guilty. After all that you’ve gone through because of this guy, you feel guilty… Maybe that’s also the omega side of you. 

 

“You know what, maybe I overstepped my boundaries,” You sigh, turning towards the exit, “I’m gonna go and just… ask someone to switch me to cleaning duty or something.” 

 

“Wait.” He doesn’t even need to touch you this time to make you obey. His voice would be enough to command you to sit and roll over if he so pleased. “No, I uh… You caught me off guard with all of that.” 

 

No kidding. You haven’t ever seen him think this hard. Is it mean of you to wonder if steam will start coming out of his ears from overwork? 

 

“Look, no matter what you think about me, whether I’m lonely or annoying or pompous or—” All of the above? “Whatever. That doesn’t change the fact that I feel a connection with you. And I mean it, I can feel it in my gut, my  _ soul _ , that there’s something special about you.” 

 

Fuck. Your heart is picking up speed again and you’re getting weaker to his sincerity again. “Feel what you want. That won’t change how I’m here for work, and work only.” You reiterate in your most commanding voice. 

 

Natsuya considers you for another moment before relenting in a smile, “Fine, okay. If you insist on earning your keep, then let’s get to work.” 

 

“No funny business?” You ask as more of a warning than a question as you follow him to the desk where his computer is set up. 

 

“Not unless you want any.” He winks. 

 

You roll your eyes, but you take a seat across from him anyway, hoping this arrangement works out like he said. 

  
  


*

  
  


For the next few days, you end up taking a more active role than you thought you would in planning this event. Apparently, this would be the first time the Kirishima Country Club would be a stop on the Japan Golf Tour, and Natsuya had been planning to host it like any other regular party event. 

 

“Are you insane? The stakes are going to be so much higher because how well you host this stop of the tour is going to be part of your reputation for years to come. And it might affect your chances of getting to host again next time.” You don’t know if you had convinced him to up the ante because of your logical advice, or because he was just as weak as any other alpha under the influence of an omega in heat. 

 

Despite how Natsuya still attempted to flirt with you or sniff you every chance that he got, he would take all of your suggestions graciously and offer his own feedback. And you come to realize that even though he’s a rich, pretty boy heir, he has a pretty good grasp on what he’s doing. 

 

Natsuya knows the ins and outs of pretty much the whole club, as well as most of the employees working in every sector of it. It’s easier to organize tasks for the event when he knows who suits which job best. He works out most of the logistical things, and you kind of just help him organize and carry out the tasks and information. It surprises you how easily you work together. You use the extra energy to ignore or stop his advances on you. Which are not seldom. 

 

But if you’re completely honest, it’s getting a lot harder for you. This heat is lasting a lot longer than your previous ones, undoubtedly because of the withdrawal from your usual suppressants. And though you do manage to stop Natsuya in his tracks when he leans in close to bury his nose in your neck or your hair, sometimes you let him linger there for a while longer just because the affection somewhat calms you. 

 

Just yesterday, he had you sit on his lap while you both took a break. You tried to pull away at first, but he had somehow already gotten you on top of him on the couch. So you just sat there with your back pressed against his chest while he hugged your waist and just sniffed you for fifteen minutes straight. Honestly, it was that quality time that would keep you sated for the rest of the work day. 

 

Unfortunately, it would also keep you up all night. You spent all of last night tossing and turning, trying to cool down from your rising body temperature as your heat hit you harder than ever. Your sweat had soaked through your clothes, and you had somehow managed to soak through your underwear without even touching yourself yet. And when you did, all you could think about was how much you wanted someone else’s hands on you instead. 

 

Someone whose scent calms you like no other, that you’ve been surrounded by consistently. Someone with hands so large and strong that they could probably hold you up at arm’s length. Someone whose eyes are so iridescent and tender when they look at you, you still shiver even when they’re covered by a mop of messy, brown bangs. You fantasize about Natsuya touching you and kissing you and fucking you all night, and it’s still not enough to bring your temperature down. 

 

Seeing the sun rise through your window somehow exhausts your eyes enough to let you close them for a few minutes. Yet, those few minutes you took turned into several hours, and you had missed your morning class. If you didn’t get up soon, you’d be late for work too. 

 

The next hour must be one of the hardest of your entire life, because you can barely bring yourself to walk properly without holding onto a railing for support. Your extremely cold shower offers you temporary relief, but once you put your clothes on, you suddenly feel like you would rather die in a house fire. Even that would feel like less of a slow burn than what your own body is doing to you. 

 

Somehow, you make it to the country club without causing any incidents on the road, but you can tell that you stink more than usual. You rush into the admin building with the shortest of greetings to reception before barging into Natsuya’s office, searching frantically for the alpha’s familiar comforting presence. Only to find that the office is empty. 

 

You fall to your knees in agony, cursing biology and the higher beings for doing this to you, for creating a world where you must live with all these painful power dynamics and animalistic needs. Tearing off your jacket to get some of this unbearable heat off, you throw it to the stand right beside the sofa. And that’s when you spot it: Natsuya’s coat, sitting on the back of his office chair. 

 

It’s tragically embarrassing how fast you run to grab it and press it into your face, inhaling the lingering scent of his cologne and natural alpha pheromones. God, you have never smelled anything as good as this. The heat in your core coils tighter in reaction to his scent, and you cry aloud in desperation as you trip over to the sofa and slump into the cushions, curling into the jacket you have pressed to your chest and face. 

 

It’s long enough to reach your knees, and you don’t even dare to think about how you clamp your thighs around the lower hem and rub them together as if getting his scent between your legs will somehow appease the pain. “Natsuya…” You feel a couple of tears fall down the side of your face to drop on the couch as you whimper the alpha’s name into the collar of his coat. 

 

You feel something far, far lower than pathetic when Natsuya comes to find you in this same position twenty minutes later. “Whoa,” he actually staggers back when he’s hit with the pungent waft of what must be your heat stench. “Oh my god, are you okay?” 

 

He drops the takeout bag he was holding and slams the door closed behind him before charging towards you, dropping to his knees on the floor beside the sofa. He leans in to curve his palm along your jaw, shushing you gently with slow strokes to your side, “It’s okay, I’m here, I’m here… You’re going to be alright.” 

 

Are you really? Because if you have to take another minute of this fucking omega torture, you very well might spontaneously combust. “Please…” You whisper, soaking the sofa with more tears, “Just take care of it.” 

 

You hate showing this side of yourself. This helpless, vulnerable, smelly mess who causes nothing but trouble for all the betas and alphas around you. You despise how you need so much help to just get through the month. And you absolutely detest how you have to ask Natsuya to help you after all you had said and done to keep yourself from him. You hate it all,  _ all of it _ , but you also know that you can’t trust anyone else to help you through this. 

 

“Yes, whatever you need.” It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever heard. 

 

He gently pries the coat from your hands and sets it aside to slowly lie on top of you. His eyes are piercing once again as he strokes your face to help you relax a little more before leaning in to kiss you. “Mmmmmmm…” You moan loud and long, like you’ve finally gotten a gulp of water after wandering the desert for months. 

 

Natsuya gives you as much as you beg from him, which is everything he’s got. His lips feel amazing, and they taste even better, like honey and a morning walk through a forest. You can see all kinds of sparks and stars behind your closed eyes as Natsuya pries into your mouth with his sweet tongue. Another powerful muscle he seems to have, but he wields it with the same softness as his hands that continue to massage your shoulders to help you unwind. 

 

Your arms feel perfect wrapped around his torso, like they belong there. It’s like you’re a koala that’s finally found its favorite tree. When Natsuya pulls away from your mouth, he’s panting, and his eyes are completed swallowed by black, “Holy fuck. You taste better than I could have ever imagined.” He barely finishes his sentence before he’s kissing you again. 

 

You kiss back with so much fervor from the buildup of the last week of heat torture that you almost suffocate. Natsuya has to pull away to let you catch your breath, but he keeps you happy by burying his lips into your neck. “Oh!” You jolt up against him, incredibly sensitive to his touch as he gets closer to the scent gland behind the juncture of your neck and shoulder. 

 

When he swipes his tongue at it, you lose yourself for a minute in a blackout of pleasure. Your eyes roll back and your hips jump and you feel slick wetness pool down your thighs. The resulting wave of pheromones that must release from your body must make Natsuya dizzy too, because he growls low and deep into your ear as he presses harder against you with his hips. The absolutely feral sound resonates into your very blood until you’re uncontrollably shaking. 

 

You gasp for air, greedily feeding your lungs with small, rapid gulps as you tug at Natsuya’s shirt. The exhaustion in your body at least keeps your desperation hidden, since you can’t find the energy to just tear the damn thing off. Luckily, Natsuya is ready to heed to your every whim, and he pulls it right up over his head to throw to the floor, no longer needed. He helps you pull your own thin t-shirt off when he sees you struggling with it too. 

 

Now, you’re in a hurry to get this done and over with so your body can finally rest. Natsuya, on the other hand, decides that now is the perfect time to just stare at you like you’re the most elaborate and beautiful piece of modern art he’s ever seen. You hadn’t bothered with a bra today because it was just too stifling, so your torso is bare before him. As much as you hate to admit it, and want to force him back against your skin, your heart swells at the look he gives you. It’s a look that makes you feel special, like he might actually like you instead of just following his needy alpha instincts to take you where you stand. 

 

In the back of your mind, you know that you shouldn’t take it to mean anything. You know that he’s been with countless other girls and omegas and he very well might have given them this same look of awe to make them feel a way. You know that he’s just brainwashed by your scent right now and is acting completely on muscular reflex and instinctive need. You know all that, but you want to enjoy that look and bask in his attention anyway. 

 

But even you can only take so much until you turn your head away from his intense, smoky eyes. You preoccupy yourself with pushing down your shorts and underwear, and Natsuya falls right back into your pace to help you pull them off. The two seconds it takes for him to climb off of you to toss the bottoms aside is far too long, and you make sure to let him know that by snarling as you pull him down by the hair to kiss him again when he’s back on top of you. 

 

His hair is soft and fluffy between your fingers, a soothing sensation for you to focus on when you force your way into his mouth and wrap your wet legs around his waist. Which is still clothed, much to your distaste. You want more skin, more of it. The way your chests and arms slide against one another in desperate, needy touches makes you feel like you’re finally breaking fever. 

 

Natsuya slides a hand down from your collar to your upper thigh, until he shifts the route of his hand to glide between your legs and touch your undeniably drenched cunt. Your body trembles when he simply strokes along the outer seam of your lips, but you manage to control the intensity of it with a shaky exhale. 

 

However, you can’t do a thing to stop yourself from moaning at the insertion of his first finger into your core. He meets absolutely no resistance with how swollen and sopping you are, so he jumps right ahead to add a second digit to join the first. This time, he moans along with you when you clench around his fingers as he begins pumping them in and out of you. Your eyes are shut as you think about nothing but the sensation of Natsuya inside of you, but you can still hear the alpha’s own stuttering breaths as he works you open. 

 

Honestly, you feel like you could just take him whole right now, knot and all. But a part of you is enjoying the extra care he gives you in the form of kisses, nuzzles, and little bites all over your body. He’s pretty much smearing his scent on you and you hate how you love the idea of smelling like him. In fact, the pampering alone is enough to make you release another small wave of slick out from between your thighs, all over Natsuya’s hand. 

 

“Fuck,” he grunts, pulling his hand out of your cunt and lifting himself off of your chest. You’re about to reprimand him, but he’s suddenly grabbing hold of your thighs and lifting one of them up to rest on his large shoulder, “I’m sorry, but I really need a taste of this first.” He just barely manages to say through his raspy breathing. 

 

And that in itself makes the wetness trickle out further, like you’re a fucking sink. Pushing your other leg off the edge of the sofa, Natsuya dives right in to lick at your downright puddle of a pussy. He only gets one lick in before he moans against your lips and sends your body into another chaotic uproar of pleasure. “Natsuya!” You yelp, digging your hands back into his hair as he takes a deep whiff of you. 

 

That does a number on him, because he gives you no more warning before he’s hurriedly licking and sucking at every surface of your cunt, leaving you to cry out helplessly at how his moans send shockwaves ricocheting through every nerve of your body. You breathe a little faster every time he sucks at your clit and playfully scrapes his teeth along your skin. He’s a bit sloppy, but you leave it to the effects of the heat for both of you, because you sure as hell don’t leak like a wishing fountain on a regular day. 

 

You enjoy it nonetheless, because with every swipe of his tongue, your body loses just a little more tension from all the built up heat that’s been trapped under your skin. You don’t know if it’s from the sex itself, or Natsuya’s alpha hormones working your body into submission, or maybe even the way he stares right at your face as he eats your pussy like a man starved. Or a combination of all of it. 

 

He doesn’t stop until your back is bowing and your voice is filling the room and likely the rest of the floor with your pathetic moaning. You come in harsh waves all over his mouth, and Natsuya just laps it up like you’re his water bowl. It takes you a minute to descend from your high, but when you come to, you realize that your heart isn’t beating as erratically as it was when you woke up today. And you feel significantly more clear-headed than you did an hour earlier. 

 

The relief doesn’t last long, however, because you start pulsing again right as Natsuya rises from between your legs to wipe at his soaked face and neck. Wow… You really made a mess down there. You don’t even want to think about what the sofa looks like. 

 

“How you feeling?” You can tell he’s trying to hide his smirk from you, even though you’re still completely at his mercy. 

 

“Better.” You croak. 

 

“You still need me to do more?” He offers, hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his pants, where you notice that there’s a profound erection poking forward against the fabric. 

 

You can’t bring yourself to use your useless voice again, so you just nod violently and endure the smug chuckle that comes from his lips. Somehow, you begin to understand why he’s always smirking and acting so arrogant when he pulls his pants off. With a dick like that, who would ever bother to be shy or humble? 

 

He can tell you’re excited because he’s chuckling as he settles between your legs again, “I like that look.” He leans down to kiss you, slower this time, but deeply. “It’s like you’re finally being honest with me.” 

 

He leans in to give your jaw a kiss before moving away from you. And on pure instinctual panic at the sight of him leaving, you snatch his wrist in your hand, “Where are you going?” you demand. He cannot leave you like this, not for any reason. 

 

“I need to get a condom.” 

 

“No.” You growl. 

 

It’s an absolutely idiotic command, because you know you should be using it, but you can’t stand the thought of Natsuya leaving your side for even a second. You dealt with that when he had taken your underwear off for you, and you will not withstand that again. 

 

And you don’t know if it was the growling or your new needy scent filling the space or the fact that your cunt is dripping for him, but Natsuya makes something of a whiny groan of defeat before returning to your screaming omega body. 

 

“God, how am I supposed to say no to you?” He kisses you before propping himself up on the sofa again, using his hand to angle his godly long  _ and  _ thick cock to slip inside of you. The insertion is so staggering that your voice falters, breaking between breaths when he fills you to the brim. 

 

“Oh my god…” You groan, bringing your hands to your face. You can’t take it. It’s like he was shaped perfectly to fit inside of you, your walls mold to his cock so seamlessly. Even though you know it’s probably just the fact that you are wetter than the ocean that makes it so easy, it’s unlike any other alpha you’ve ever had inside of you before. His skin and his hands and his scent and his texture and his taste, it’s like he was built to cater to your body’s every wish. How can he have such a powerful effect on you? Is it the heat? Or the suppressants? Or maybe, just maybe… he wasn’t wrong when he said that there was just some sort of inherent connection between you?

 

So many things fly across your mind with this perfect cock inside of you, but Natsuya pulls you back into the moment by actually taking your hands away your face, “Don’t hide that pretty face from me.” He rumbles, scooping you up from your lying position to press you flush against his chest, “I want to see everything.” 

 

Your breath hitches and your walls clench in reaction to the deep timbre of his words, and Natsuya growls back at the feeling. You barely manage to wrap your arms around his neck when he sits back against the sofa and starts lifting your hips up to lower right back down onto his big, veiny cock. “Oh!” You whine, throwing your head back. 

 

He starts slow, but you seem more than eager to just start bouncing onto his lap. So he takes a firmer hold of your hips and lifts you up and down repeatedly like you weigh nothing in his hands. You see him get lost in the sight of his cock disappearing inside of you as he looks down at your connected hips. You almost lose yourself again when he brings his eyes up to stare into yours in complete adoration. 

 

Your heart can’t handle the sight of such unrestrained passion and awe, so you clasp his face in your hands and move in to smash your lips against his. He’s happy to cater to your desires once again, kissing you back with skilled and practiced lips, all while keeping you bouncing on his lap. And wow, every spot he hits you in feels like the perfect one. You bathe in the pleasure of every drag of his cock in and out of your slick walls, involuntarily squeezing him every so often when he smacks into a sensitive bundle of nerves. 

 

“Natsuya…” You rasp, trading away the breath you needed for his name. He groans and presses his face into your neck.

 

“Fuck, say that again.” He mumbles into your skin, sucking gently at it. 

 

And it’s like you have no choice. His alpha scent and pheromones wash into your brain and drown you into submission. You call his name over and over, even when you lose the air in your lungs and you start sounding like you’re choking. You can feel it swelling near your opening — his knot. Your lips smack against it as you continue to ride on top of him, but every cell in your body pushes you towards it, screaming for you to take it. 

 

However, when you stop bouncing to sink down deep onto him to get it inside of you, Natsuya’s hands hold you still, “Hey, you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to—” 

 

You shut him up with a bite to his neck, and he jolts with a shout, hips bucking up into you. It makes it easier to sink down completely until you can feel his balls pressing against your lips, trapping his knot inside of you. And contrary to what he just said to you, his hands keep your hips fastened on top of him while his knot begins to swell bigger, until it can’t come out anymore without him coming inside of you. “Fuck! Shit, you’re so…” His eyes look almost pained when they look into yours, but it’s fleeting since he throws his head back with a groan, “Agh… I’m...”  

 

You know. And you squeeze around his swollen cock to tell him so, enjoying every wild sound that comes from the back of his throat. When the knot starts twitching inside of you, you roll your hips even deeper against him, moaning along until he comes with an endless slur of curse words and broken thrusts. 

 

He fills you deep. The warmth spreads out inside of you and paints you white from the inside out. Natsuya’s body releases a whole new wave of pheromones that triggers an orgasm strong enough to make you faint. You can feel all of your slickness coating him from inside of you, mixing with his emission like a cocktail of wild, uncontrolled, liquified lust. 

 

In the dizzy, carnal atmosphere that’s dense with alpha and omega hormones, Natsuya naturally finds his way to your scent gland. You shiver weakly when he twists his neck around yours to kiss and lick at it, but when you feel his teeth scraping at your sensitive skin, in preparation to bite a permanent mark on you, you push him back in a panic, “Stop.” 

 

“Why?” His eyes are glazed over. You’re surprised that he’s able to speak. 

 

“I asked you for help, not to be my mate.” This is an awkward conversation to have when his knot is still plugged up inside of you. 

 

“Why not? It’s so clear that you want me. That you were meant for me.” He insists, almost growling. A new scent fills the room from Natsuya’s body, something that smells like desperation to match his eyes, and your body screams to submit to his pleas. 

 

“It’s my body that wants you, not me.” You bite down on your omega compulsion, now that your head has cleared a lot more in the wake of post-alpha orgasm. “I did this out of necessity.” 

 

Natsuya looks at you with heartbroken eyes, his breathing still coming in soft pants. “Do you really mean that?” 

 

You press your lips together, guilt squeezing at your heart as you feel his knot start to shrink back, releasing the tension against your walls and the mixed cum from inside of you. “I told you already,” you shakily remove yourself from his lap, cringing at the absolute waterfall that floods out of you and down your thighs, “I don’t want an alpha.”

 

As much as it nearly pierces your heart to say that, as much as Natsuya’s fallen expression makes you want to cry into his arms and take it all back, and as much as it embarrasses you to admit that you just used him to help yourself out of a desperate situation, you can’t give him hope that you’ll mate with him. You’ve worked too hard to build a life of your own, without anyone’s help, despite the odds. And you won’t give that up for anyone, no matter what your body tells you. 


	3. The Relapse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> omega tries to get back into the normal routines, but there alpha is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY. an update. we're almost there, buddies. i apologize for the delay, and i hope you're ready for a few more dips along this ride

You’re back at the restaurant, waiting tables and interacting with customers as usual. After the JGT event was finalized, your job as Natsuya’s assistant was complete until the actual event. And with your heat over with and finally getting your new bottle of prescribed suppressants, there was no reason to continue staying in Natsuya’s office only to avoid him. There’s still the occasional awkward conversation with your coworkers and some customers about how you basically stunk up the place with your omega pheromones, but everyone is pretty gracious about welcoming you back. 

 

Your routines are relatively back in place now. You don’t miss any more classes, you come to work on time and fresh with scent-neutralizing products smothered into your body, you’re back to wearing the ugly lemon yellow uniform, and you take your pill at 10:10pm. Altogether, you feel like you’re back into the groove of things without the overwhelming discomfort that is your omega body off of suppressant drugs. But somehow, it’s still different. 

 

It’s been about two weeks since you slept with the club owner’s son, and as glad as you are for your heat to be over with, you’re still hung up over how incredible the sex was. The evening after you had let Natsuya fuck you silly, you felt like you were glowing, like the world had opened up to something new. And even though it was all done and over with, and you didn’t plan to ever do that again, you still find yourself thinking about it. About him. A lot. 

 

There are small patches in the day that you find yourself zoning out and thinking about his body. Replaying memories of how his skin felt, how pretty his eyes were, the things he said to you that made your heart want to leap out of your chest. And you could blame it all on biology like you usually do, but then come thoughts and memories about how charismatic he was when he was working on the project event with you, how he was kind of goofy and made silly jokes that were stupid enough to make you laugh at their absurdity, how he actually had some likable moments. 

 

Though even if you weren’t thinking of Natsuya and all of the good points he managed to show you, he would remind you himself anyway. Literally, he has been coming to the club restaurant as much as he used to when you first worked here, telling you about how he’s been getting more involved in the family business and asking his family to let him take the lead in more projects and events. All in an effort to impress and win you over, you’re fairly sure, because he still takes every opportunity to remind you how much he misses you. 

 

He’s been acting kind towards you, in spite of the fact that you had fucked and rejected him in the most vulnerable of settings. There are times when he leans in to whisper something hot and inappropriate into your ear, but you just clear your throat and act like it doesn’t affect you like you always do. When in reality, it’s exactly what you want to hear. 

 

But as impressed and flattered as you are by Natsuya’s diligent advances, and also happy that he’s decided to get more involved with the club to become a proper working man, you have to constantly remind yourself that getting involved with him won’t really help your independent cause. You’re determined to continue making your own living, becoming your own person without the risk of prejudice that comes with being a privileged omega with a rich alpha mate to fall back on. 

 

So you continue about your life, acting like the striking chemistry between you and Natsuya isn’t strong enough to light you on fire. You decline his invitations to eat or hang out outside of the country club, give away or donate the little gifts he sends to your locker or car (or if they’re really expensive, you have it returned to his office), ignore his texts and calls, and have someone else serve him as much as possible when he comes by the restaurant. It gets harder and harder each time you see him pop up with that dumb grin on his face, like seeing you was the best part of his day. 

 

“You know, he’s stopped seeing other girls, it seems.” Sousuke brings up one day as you’re helping close up. 

 

“Oh yeah, he has, hasn’t he?” you reply nonchalantly as you push your mop underneath one of the booths. Like you haven’t already noticed that Natsuya only appears at the golf course and the restaurant with a potential business partner now if he isn’t alone or with Nao. It works to your advantage actually, since he has to keep up a professional appearance, so he tends not to flirt as much when they’re around. 

 

“He’s been working hard to invite people to the JGT event next week. And branching out to make the club more popular.” Your manager adds.

 

“Well, that’s good.” 

 

Sousuke finishes wiping his last glasses and rests his hands on the counter to stare at you, “You know, I’ve never seen him work this hard before. You’ve had some crazy effect on him since you met.” 

 

“He’s good at what he does.” You mop up the last section of the dining hall and lift it from the ground, making your way towards the swinging door to the staff area. “He just needed a little push off of his high horse.” 

 

You disappear through the staff hallway to bring the mop to wash in the outdoor sink behind the restaurant. Sousuke appears behind you with the trash in tow to throw out before continuing the conversation that you had been trying to avoid inside, “[Name], is there a reason why you’re avoiding Natsuya? He’s been pretty taken with you.” 

 

“Sousuke,” you sigh as you turn on the water and clean the mop, “There are a ton of reasons why I’m avoiding him. And I’m pretty sure you can guess most of them.” 

 

“Do they mainly have to do with the fact that he’s an heir to this club?” He guesses. 

 

“It’s definitely one of the big ones.” You acknowledge. 

 

“Or that he’s kind of a playboy who seems hard to trust?” 

 

“There’s another one.” 

 

“Or that he’s annoying?” 

 

“Ooh, hit the nail on the head with that one.” You chuckle, rinsing the mop and giving it a last squeeze. 

 

Sousuke gives you a small, humorous smile, but returns to his point, “Listen, [Name]. I’ve known Natsuya for a while now, and he’s a lot of things; spoiled, picky, spontaneous, annoying, overly ambitious, somewhat socially inept at times…” 

 

“Go on, I agree with all of that.” 

 

“Well, my point is,” he continues, “He’s far from ideal, as a boss, or a friend, or anything, really. But I don’t think I’ve seen him change so much and so rapidly until you came into his life. I mean, you’ve worked with him on one project, and now he’s out marketing and taking responsibility and looking genuinely happy. This may not be my place to say, but… I think you’re good for him.” 

 

You look away with an exasperated sigh, mounting your hands on your hips as you think about how to approach your manager’s surprisingly meddlesome observation. “You know what, Sousuke? You’re right. He has changed a lot, for the better, I agree. And I know he’s far from perfect, believe me.

 

“I also know now that in addition to being handsome and manipulative and beyond annoying, he happens to be capable, creative, attentive, funny, and irritatingly persistent…” You can’t even count how many times he’s tried to win you over at this point in time, “And who knows, maybe you’re right and I am good for him. But that’s not the problem.”

 

Now the man just looks confused. You can’t really blame him since you’re being both passive and aggressive in both your insults and your compliments towards the alpha. “Then… what is the problem?” 

 

“Isn’t it obvious?” You roll your eyes, “It’s me. It always has been, since the day I was born. I’m a young, headstrong omega who’s been working my ass off my entire life to be independent — to prove that I’m more than this role that god assigned me to. I’m so desperate to make something of myself, to the point of hiding my own identity as an omega, just to meet everyone else at a level playing field. If I let some rich alpha boy claim me, then I lose all of that. I lose ownership of myself, all of my efforts up to this point would be worthless, because all of that credit would be given to him instead. Because all I would be thereafter is ‘his omega.’” 

 

Sousuke really does not deserve to be shouted and pointed at by a crazy omega waiter with a mop in her hands, but he listens patiently as you vent it all out. When you finally pause for a breath, he just gives you an unreadably curious look, before saying, “Well, if you have to hide such a vital part of yourself to get to there, is that really where you want to be?” 

 

You stop short, slowly lowering the mop. “Well, I…” Don’t actually have an answer. 

 

“Well, it’s not really any of my business. I just wanted to see if you were okay, with all the tension going on between you and Natsuya lately.” Sousuke relents, moving to return inside, “But for what it’s worth, I think you could gain a lot more than you’re afraid to lose if you let yourself be happy.” 

 

He leaves you standing there, dumbfounded and reeling with all kinds of thoughts. For a mopey, country club bar manager, he’s rather profound. 

  
  


*

  
  


The weekend is usually a time for you to catch up on homework you may have left piling up during the work, and you tend to stay away from full day shifts for that reason. But this weekend, you’re lucky enough to be free of homework other than studying for an upcoming exam, so you decide to treat yourself to a nice lunch and a relaxing walk afterwards. It’s not all that often that you get this kind of down time to yourself. 

 

You would enjoy it for the most part, if your manager’s stupid comments weren’t loitering the busy streets of your mind. Not to mention it is warmer out today than you had expected it to be. The weather had reported a regular, sunny day, but you’re sweating a bit underneath your t-shirt right now. 

 

_ What did Sousuke mean by ‘if you let yourself be happy’ anyway? _ You scoff at the memory. Is he trying to say that  _ Natsuya  _ would make you happy? Of all things in the world? You know what would make you happy? Equality. Not some airheaded, flirtatious, impulsive, irresponsible, strong, handsome, happy-go-lucky… alpha… 

 

No! He wouldn’t! What would he even be able to do for you other than fuck your brains out? Which he was really incredible at, to the point where you still find yourself thinking about the size and shape of his dick, but that is completely beside the point. He provides no role in your life towards your ultimate goal of living self-sufficiently, with equal respect from people who would think you couldn’t make it. 

 

_ “If you have to hide such a vital part of yourself to get to there, is that really where you want to be?” _

 

Ugh! Shut up, Sousuke! Fine, you know that maybe you shouldn’t have to hide your status as an omega in order to gain respect from others. Maybe it’s ridiculous to look for respect and acceptance from people who don’t matter to you in the first place. But you can’t fight your internal need to… prove yourself. To the country club, to the school, to the world, to yourself… You want to prove that an omega can do anything an alpha or beta can do. You always have.

 

Isn’t that why you got into management in the first place? Why you put yourself into classes full of alphas and betas to learn how to take on leadership roles? Why you endured all of those quizzical eyes and sneers from people who didn’t expect to see an omega with ‘so much ambition’? Why you made it a mission to win every competition you entered growing up? Why you moved so far away from your family and friends to build a new life out of nothing? You did all of this to become a better you. 

 

_ “... if you just let yourself be happy.” _

 

“Ugh!!” You groan aloud in the middle of the sidewalk, prompting a number of weird looks from passersby. 

 

That’s the thing. Wouldn’t getting to where you want to be make you happy? If you work hard enough and earn that position or prestige or respect, surely it’ll come with the satisfaction of accomplishment when the odds were all against you. If you were to get involved with a wealthy, attractive alpha, maybe that success wouldn’t be yours anymore. 

 

_ “... you could gain a lot more than you’re afraid to lose…” _

 

Okay, you know what, Sousuke? He can shut the hell up and get the fuck out of your head. Shouldn’t he have a drink to mix or something right now?? 

 

Ignoring the fact that you’ve given the imaginary manager in your head a task to do, you wipe at the sweat that’s forming on your face. It is getting even warmer now, which is strange because the sun has been hidden in clouds for the past half hour. But it’s about time for you to be getting home anyway. Tomorrow is the start of preparations for the Japan Golf Tour event, and you’ve got to be ready to oversee all the tasks you helped organize as well as avoid Natsuya to your best ability. 

  
  


*

  
  


Your job in overseeing preparations mostly involves making sure that everything is in order and reported to you before you pass on the information to Natsuya for approval. Most of the work just comes with setup, like making sure there are enough pamphlets, the posters are printed, the golf carts are fueled up, that there’s an assigned caddy for everyone who requested one (and a few on standby if needed), that there are enough ingredients for food prep tomorrow, and checking in with everyone to make sure they will arrive on time for their promised tasks. 

 

Natsuya is kept busy enough to maintain a professional attitude when working with you throughout the day, and you’re sent on enough miscellaneous tasks to not spend too much time with him before he starts to relax around you. In a way, you’re kind of enjoying this; working with him and helping manage the entire event that you helped plan. Sousuke was right in that you got a chance to get some experience out of this job. 

 

You’re on your way back from the villas after checking in to make sure all the guests who were staying overnight before the tournament had everything they needed when you’re flagged down by one of the housekeeping managers, “I have the extra towels Mr. Kirishima requested for tournament ready. Where shall I have them sent to?” 

 

“Oh, for the competitors? Well, I’m on my way back to the course right now. I can just take them with me and store them for tomorrow so you have one less thing to do.” You offer, “How many are there?” 

 

It turns out, there are a lot more competitors than you thought. When you saw the large laundry bag stuffed with folded towels, you just blinked at it, wondering if it was actually larger than you. 

 

“I can have someone help you bring them over. Or provide you a cart to make the trip easier.” The manager had offered. 

 

You sigh at both options, “You need every staff member you have here because everyone else is out on some other task for the tournament. And the cart is more of a hassle than it’s worth to drive back and forth. I’ll just carry it, it’s not that far.” 

 

After going back and forth and insisting you could handle it, you slung the laundry bag over your shoulder and trudged back towards the main teeing ground slouched over like the hunchback of Notre Dame. It’s bearable for the first two minutes, but the destination actually seems to get farther and farther the more you start to sweat underneath the huge bag. You really hope that your scent isn’t leaking through to the clean towels.

 

Honestly, you could use an alpha in shining armor right about now, but you also want to slap yourself for even thinking such a thing. You can do this yourself, and you need to stop thinking that Natsu— an alpha, or anyone for that matter, will be around to help you all the time. 

 

“Would you like some help with that?” 

 

Before you can even respond to the owner of the incredibly deep, masculine voice — or shout at god for making fun of you — the laundry bag is relieved from your shoulders. “Oh my goodness,” you stretch back, planting your palms on your lower back to arch backward, “Wow, thank you so much… uh…” 

 

The first thing you notice about the tall, lean man standing before you is the loud pop of flaming red hair. Next, of course, is his sharp jaw and handsome features, sporting a pair of the prettiest gold eyes. And before you can even think about how tight his arms and chest are in that t-shirt, he swings the gargantuan laundry bag over his shoulder with a graceful ease that says nothing but  _ alpha  _ to you. “Seijuurou.” He finishes for you with a gentle smile that looks surprisingly good on his sharp face. 

 

“Seijuurou,” you repeat, returning the smile, “Thank you very much for the short break. But I can handle it on the rest of the way back.” 

 

When you reach up for the bag, the red-haired alpha pivots to bring it out of your reach, “I’m sure you can, but I’d love to help you out anyway. If you don’t mind, that is.” 

 

It really would make no sense to struggle with that huge bag of towels for another ten minutes when there was a completely capable and willing alpha thrust right here into your path, so you gratefully accept the help. As you lead the way to the teeing ground, you find out that Seijuurou is one of the competitors in the tournament tomorrow. 

 

“Are you staying in the club villas tonight?” You ask. 

 

“No, I booked a hotel a couple miles away. But I did want to get a look-see at the course first before tomorrow.” He explains. How is he holding that bag up with one arm?? He’s got it propped on one shoulder, balancing it on his upper arm while his hand holds it in place like a lumberjack or something. “So, what’s your actual job here at this club? I assume your main task isn’t actually transporting large items.” 

 

“What with my spectacular performance, you mean?” You joke, and he has the courtesy to chuckle. “No, I actually work at the club restaurant near Hole 2. But I was given the opportunity to work as an assistant manager and organizer for the competition tomorrow.” 

 

“Well, isn’t that something? I could tell from your dedication to this transport job that you were a hard worker, but to think you were behind this stop in the JGT?” He whistles like he’s impressed, which makes you scoff, but with a smile. 

 

“I’m not, I’m just an assistant. I help out the guy who’s actually put this whole event together.” You explain, “But I will admit, I did have a bit of sway in convincing him to make the event bigger.” 

 

“And better, I assume.” He smiles with teeth. 

 

“You said it, not me.” You shrug. 

 

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but can I ask if you’re an omega?” Obviously with that question, you always feel compelled to take it the wrong way. But Seijuurou’s voice is gentle and sincere, so you don’t see the harm in seeing where he takes your answer. 

 

“Yes, I am. Why? Are you surprised to see an omega in a position of influence?” You tease, though you are really nowhere near anything influential. 

 

“I admit, it’s uncommon, but I’m glad to hear that you’re doing it. I like seeing an omega taking on big challenges and earning their keep. We need more of those.” 

 

You’re a bit astounded, and all you can do is stare at Seijuurou with incredulous eyes. “I agree…” 

 

And you also find yourself enjoying the rest of the conversation on the walk to the storage cabinet by the first hole. An alpha who doesn’t underestimate you and actually acknowledges your struggle?  _ And  _ supports the movement? Truly a remarkable find. 

 

When you open up the cabinet for him to set the towels down, he makes a manly grunt that perks at your heart and tickles your ears. And when he stands back up to stretch, his skin-tight shirt leaves little to the imagination with all the muscles and curves the fabric molds against. Hopefully, closing the cabinet doors gives your blush enough time to settle down. 

 

Clearing your throat, you make sure to thank Seijuurou again for all his help. “It was my pleasure. Did I ever get your name?” 

 

Guess he didn’t, so you tell him and he doesn’t waste a moment trying it out, “Well [Name], I recall you mentioning you work at the restaurant on the grounds. Do you think you might have the time to spare to bring me there?” 

 

“Yes, of course! Let’s go!” You jump at the offer to return the favor, “In fact, why don’t I treat you to something?” 

 

“Oh, you don’t have to go that far.” He chuckles, falling in step beside you. 

 

But you insist, all the way back to the clubhouse restaurant. The lighthearted jokes and conversation continue seamlessly between you until you arrive. Until you’re suddenly met with a familiar alpha scent in the air. 

 

“[Name].” You snap your head towards the sound of his voice like a lapdog. “There you are.” Natsuya walks right up to you with a slight speed in his step until he’s right in front of you, “Who’s this?” 

 

“Ah, this is Seijuurou. He’s one of the competitors participating in tomorrow’s tournament.” You introduce the redhead alpha, sensing a slight tension growing in the air from Natsuya’s hostile scent, “He helped me bring this huge bag of towels over from the villas, so I was going to treat him to something as a thank you.” 

 

“Mikoshiba Seijuurou, yes I recognize your name. You’ve been up and coming in the community these past couple of years.” Natsuya acknowledges him. 

 

“This is Natsuya,” you turn back to Seijuurou, “He’s the one who’s responsible for planning this stop in the tour. And the one I’ve been assisting.” 

 

“Pleasure to meet you.” Seijuurou reaches a hand out, and Natsuya accepts it. 

 

“Likewise.” Natsuya says it rather stiffly, but the scent has dissipated just a bit. “Anyway, [Name] I need your help with something, so I’m gonna have to steal you away for a bit. But Sousuke,” he calls out to the manager at the bar, “Please give Mr. Mikoshiba whatever he pleases, on the house.” 

 

Sousuke nods in acknowledge and Natsuya turns back to smile rigidly at Seijuurou, “I appreciate you lending a hand to my om— assistant. Feel free to order anything you like.”

 

“Thank you. I’m happy to have been able to help.” Seijuurou sounds calmer than Natsuya, but there’s a small edge in his posture that he didn’t have before. You get the feeling that you should probably separate the two soon before it gets awkward. 

 

Luckily, Natsuya seems in a hurry, so he nods once more before calling your name again and waltzing out of the restaurant. Quickly, you turn back to Seijuurou and thank him once more before following Natsuya outside, “Good luck in the tournament tomorrow.” 

 

His smile is warm as he waves you goodbye, but you don’t get another second to appreciate it when Natsuya grabs you by the hand and rushes you to another building. Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since he last touched you, but you can feel sparks shooting up your arm straight into your heart from where he holds your hand so tightly. 

 

Before you get a chance to question him, he all but screeches to a halt and turns quickly enough to catch you by the shoulders, and start sniffing you thoroughly. Now your entire body is jolting in what you can only identify as…  _ excitement…  _ at his strong reaction to another alpha being near you. And when Natsuya exhales after a deep,  _ deep  _ whiff of your new scent wave, he finally pulls back. “I don’t like him.” 

 

His eyes are burning, scorching you, even. And if you weren’t being completely enveloped in and hypnotized by Natsuya’s possessive scent right now, you’d have smacked his hands away. “He was just helping me out.” You roll your eyes, before quickly adding, “Not that I need to explain myself to you.” 

 

“I didn’t say he wasn’t a good person. But an unmated alpha approaching a cute, unclaimed omega out of the goodness of his heart? When you smell like  _ this _ ?” Natsuya gives you a begging look, “I know you’re smart, [Name]. And I know you wouldn’t ever underestimate what an alpha is willing to do.” 

 

“He’s just here for the tournament. I doubt I’ll see him again outside of this kind of setting.” You sigh in exasperation. You already know the drill; always be careful around an unfamiliar alpha. But can you help that you were enjoying a conversation with a refreshingly liberal guy for once?? “Wait.” You suddenly rewind back to a detail Natsuya said, “What do I smell like?” 

 

“You can’t tell? It smells like you’re going into heat soon, if you haven’t already.” Natsuya says like it’s obvious. And if  _ Natsuya  _ thinks something is obvious… 

 

“That’s impossible. I’m back on my suppressants, and my heat isn’t even supposed to come for at least another week.” You recite aloud, more to yourself in order to try and make sense of things. 

 

“Well, either way, you smell fucking delicious right now, and I’ve been trying real hard to respect your boundaries but,” Natsuya slides his hands around your waist to bring you closer for another whiff, “You’re making it really tough for me…” His voice is raspy and his eyes are faded, and you’d have to be blind  _ and  _ deaf not to know that he is only thinking about kissing you right now. 

 

Your heart jumps in your chest every time he says something even remotely hot, and you’re really tempted to just give in to that voice in the back of your head (that sounds uncannily like Sousuke) telling you to throw caution to the wind. And you sure want to, your body has been more than receptive to Natsuya’s persuasive aura and scent. This is the closest you’ve been to him since your last heat, and your body has  _ missed  _ him. Like fucking crazy. 

 

So it feels like you’re jumping into an ice bath when you remove his hands from your waist, “Don’t we have work to do?” You ask. 

 

“Forget work, I want you.” Natsuya says in a whinier voice than you ever expected to come from him. “I get that you have some things holding you back, but what’s wrong with us being with each other when our connection is so strong?” 

 

Not this again, you groan. “Natsuya, it’s precisely because our connection is so strong that we have to hold back! You freaking tried to  _ bond  _ with me last time!” 

 

“What was I supposed to think? I found you hugging my coat and calling my name! You let me come inside you,  _ and  _ you took my knot.” Your face lights on fire at the horribly embarrassing memory, but more so because he’s shameless enough to say it out loud, “And without protection? You might as well have been asking me to marry you.” 

 

“I was in  _ heat _ . A terrible, uncontrollable heat, where I clearly wasn’t myself!” You defend, “And for the record, I was protected!” 

 

He takes a step closer to you and leans in slowly, carefully, “Well for the record, I totally would’ve married you.” Your breath catches in your throat just as Natsuya brings a hand to your face, caressing your cheek with his thumb, as he says in barely more than a whisper, “I can’t stop thinking about you…”

 

It’s like a quiet plea. One that begs you,  _ please tell me you feel the same _ . And every last cell in your body is urging you to give in to this incredible alpha aura, to just let him take over you and become  _ his  _ omega. 

 

But your brain knows better. And you’ll sooner bury yourself in this golf course than become anybody’s possession. With a shaky inhale, you pull back again, looking away and crossing your arms in front of you. You mumble something about work and Natsuya relents, slipping his hands into his pockets and not bothering to hide the disappointment in his voice as he turns and walks towards the next building, “We’ve got tables to set up.” 

  
  


*

  
  


You wake up the next day realizing that, yes, you have definitely started your heat early. Your skin is hot, your head is throbbing, and you want nothing more than to have something between your legs to appease the fever. Now that you recall, you had been feeling rather warm throughout the weekend even though the weather had been perfectly fine. 

 

But how does that make sense? You’ve been taking your usual suppressants every day since you picked up your new prescription. It was the exact same drug, in the exact same bottle, and your heat should be regulated. Why is it here so early? And why does it feel stronger than it usually does? This kind of discomfort is more reminiscent of the first days of your last disaster of a heat cycle than your previous ones when you were regularly on the pill. 

 

As many questions as you have, you need to stow them away for later, because today is the day that the Japan Golf Tour stops at the Kirishima Country Club, and you need to be there in two hours. So you force yourself out of bed, manage to get yourself off in the shower before washing off with extra scent-neutralizing product, and pile on the patches and perfume before slipping on your clothes. 

 

With breakfast and caffeine in your body, your head manages to calm down a bit for your drive to work. You try to focus as much on the tournament as possible as not to aggravate your body into strong chemical reactions that everyone else can smell. Upon arrival, you head straight to the main teeing ground where everyone has started setting up the tents, bleachers, posters, and tables. 

 

You check in with pretty much every station that has a task or responsibility for today’s event, though you don’t run into Natsuya at any point, which is strange. But you don’t have time to think about him, because the competitors have started arriving, and you take it upon yourself to welcome them and offer assistance in the event hall. 

 

Eventually, you do hear a familiar alpha call your name, though it doesn’t turn out to be Natsuya. “Hey, Seijuurou. You ready for the tournament?” You greet him and hand him his towel, complimentary golf tee, pen, and personal scorecard and pamphlet. 

 

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He smiles. It’s a very kind, warm smile that you can tell easily lights up a room. “I hope you’ll be watching.” 

 

“Absolutely.” You promise. “Best of luck out there!” 

 

About an hour later is when the welcome ceremonies are beginning. You had finally met up with Natsuya and everything seemed to be going well. All you had to do now was just listen in on the walkie talkie for any questions or tasks to help communicate or organize the event as it went on. 

 

The entire day feels like it blurs by, watching golf, helping keep score, answering questions from staff and guests, watching golf, providing refreshments, switching your patches, watching more golf. Until it becomes late afternoon and everyone gathers into the event hall again for the celebratory meal. You manage to get in a few bites every now and then, but you still have to go around helping out with miscellaneous tasks. 

 

After the last, unofficial closing ceremony, the competitors and all their family, friends, and other managers begin leaving. Most of them speak directly to Natsuya about how much they enjoyed the event and commended him for a job well done, but several people come up to you to thank you for your hard work as well. You do also get a few creepy winks or compliments, unfortunately, but you suppose it could have been worse.

 

Seijuurou obviously makes sure to get in his last word with you though, and when he leans in to get a subtle whiff of your scent, you’re both surprised and not surprised. At least he goes about it like a gentleman, “I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but I really hope that I do.” He even lifts your hand up to kiss it! How suave! “Thank you for cheering me on today.” 

 

You clear your throat, “My pleasure.” 

 

He digs around in his pocket before pulling out a business card. After quickly scribbling something on the back of the card, he holds it out to you between two fingers, “That’s my personal number on the back, if you’d ever like to call me.” 

 

“Th-Thank you.” You don’t know what else to say. Luckily, you don’t need to because Seijuurou takes his leave with a last wave to you. 

 

You stand there, awestruck, for a few more seconds. Maybe it was the fact that he was tall and handsome, or because he had his own impressive alpha aura about him, or because he was never anything but respectful to you, even with his intentions, or maybe because you were actually really impressed with his golfing skills today. He made it to the next round, so he’d be following the next stop in the tour. You respect a man with ambition to win. 

 

Cleanup takes hours, and you are so very glad that you’re getting paid a higher wage than your waiting job for the hours you work this position. With overtime, nonetheless. Natsuya finds his way over to you after he’s done with all his official organizer duties, though. And when he does, he freezes when he smells Seijuurou on you. 

 

“I thought I told you I didn’t like that guy.” He snarls. 

 

“Well, how you feel about him has nothing to do with our business together.” That might’ve been the wrong thing to say. 

 

“Your  _ ‘business together’ _ ?” Natsuya repeats, his eyes on fire. Definitely could’ve found something better to say. “What kind of ‘business’ do you have going on with him?” 

 

“Nothing! We don’t have anything going on. He just talked to me.” 

 

“It doesn’t smell like he just talked to you.” Natsuya’s voice is so compelling that your excuses just seem to blurt out of your mouth. 

 

“He didn’t do anything,” you insist, “But… he did give me his number.” 

 

Natsuya’s eyes harden at your confession. You can’t possibly predict where this will go. “And you took it?” 

 

“Yes.” You admit. 

 

“Do you like him?” 

 

Your heart is starting to beat faster than you’re comfortable with under the scrutiny of Natsuya’s piercing gaze, and you wonder if this is what it feels like to be sitting in a police interrogation room. “I don’t know.” You answer truthfully. 

 

Natsuya walks forward, erasing more space between you with each step. Until he comes close enough to sniff you like he usually does, and picks up the hand that had just been gently held by Seijuurou. Natsuya’s hold is different, slightly larger, stronger, more possessive. He holds your hand like he means something incredibly serious by it. 

 

Then he brushes his nose against the back of your hand, breathing lightly against it, burying Seijuurou’s scent in his own. When he looks up at you again, his eyes are desperate again, not unlike how he looked when you had told him you didn’t want him after you had just given him the most intimate experience your body could offer. 

 

“Don’t call him.” 

  
  


*

  
  


After waiting for what feels like a millenium, your doctor finally comes into the examination room you’ve been waiting in. Though you should be grateful that you were lucky enough to have snagged a recently cancelled appointment this soon. “How can I help you today?” She greets you with a warm smile. 

 

“Hi, I had a question about my heat cycle.” You fold your hands together anxiously, giving her the rundown of the last several weeks in which you were on your suppressants, then off of them, went through the worst heat of your life, recently got back on your suppressants, but are now beginning to suffer through an equally impending early heat. 

 

“Now’s that an interesting case for sure.” Your doctor makes a few notes in her clipboard. “Are you on any other medications?” 

 

“No, nothing else.” 

 

“Can I ask if you have a mate or someone else who usually helps you through your heats?” 

 

“Not usually. When I was regularly taking my suppressants, I would just go through them alone because they were bearable. But in my last heat cycle where I was temporarily off of them, it was really overwhelming, so I had someone… help me through it. I had never been involved with him before, and I haven’t done anything with him since then.” 

 

“Alright,” she nods, making another note, “And when were you actually expecting your next heat?” 

 

“It was supposed to come in about another week or so. Which is fine, because I know cycles can fluctuate. But my concern is that even though I’m back on stronger suppressants, this incoming heat feels like it’ll be as strong as my last one.” 

 

“I see. And you said that you got through your last cycle with the help of someone else. Do you believe there’s a possibility that you’re pregnant?” 

 

“Definitely not.” You answer immediately, “Or I shouldn’t be. I get the yearly altrenogest shot, and my last one was about five months ago.” 

 

She asks you a few more questions and makes another few notes, and contemplative hums. Until finally, she offers some possible conclusions, “So, pertaining to what you’ve told me, here’s what I can tell you I know: strong heats after suppressant withdrawals are definitely normal. And no matter how short or long of a time you’re off of them, your prescription is strong enough to regulate and control your heat cycles as they were before.

 

“However, since you said that your heat has returned early and stronger than ever — which admittedly, I can smell and yes, it is stronger than the average — I can only make a couple of guesses.” 

 

You make sure to sit up in your seat for this. 

 

“Both of them likely involve the individual you were with during your last heat. One possibility is that with all of the abrupt chemical changes in your body in the last several weeks, the hormonal fluctuations that led to your last intensive heat could also have affected or irregulated the usual estrus stages your body goes through. 

 

“That being said, it could have left room for error in the way that the altrenogest progestin worked. Which, fast-forwarding through all the medical jargon, might have gone through your birth control and led to the possibility of pregnancy. Which could possibly explain your body’s defensive reaction to the suppressants in the form of an early heat. Otherwise, once pregnant, your heat cycle would cease altogether.” 

 

You can feel your heart drop into your stomach, and your doctor surely knows (smells) that you’ve been hit with a wave of anxiety as well, since she hurries to reassure you, “We don’t know for sure if that’s the case, but you can take a pregnancy test here today to find out. Would you like to do that?” 

 

Your voice is shaky as you answer, “S-Sure…” 

 

“Okay, well that was one possible guess. I do have another one, though it’s a rarer case and may or may not be good news for you depending on your relationship with your partner from your last heat.” She actually looks kind of excited to share this one with you, “Like I said, it’s incredibly rare, but there have been cases in which omegas who took suppressants came into contact with their bond mates who, in a way, ended up nullifying the effects of the suppressants.” 

 

“Wait, what?” You do a double-take, “How is that even possible?” 

 

“Well, on the scientific side of ‘perfect’ pair bonds, it’s possible that two individuals can completely match each other in terms of hormonal balance. It’s been found in some studies that if one bonded mate chemically fluctuates, the other can easily match them, though that’s not always the case. But on the not so scientific side of it, people say that it’s really just two souls that are meant to be together.” The doctor shrugs, letting you decide what you want to believe. 

 

“H-How would you know? If they’re bond mates, I mean.” You dare to ask.

 

“We can’t be completely sure, since it’s just so rare to find perfect pair bonds and actually be able to study them. But a lot of the time, people describe it as ‘just a feeling,’ like they knew in their bodies that the other person is a perfect match.” She sighs dreamily, “It’s a dream for any romanticist out there.”

 

She promptly turns her attention back to you though, “So in theory, while you were off of your suppressants, your exposure to your potential bond mate might have given you a metaphorical ‘awakening’ and mixing your scents or being intimate could have triggered your strong connection. And in turn, when you stopped contact with said bond mate and began taking your suppressants again, they may have caused an upset in the hormonal balances of your body in trying to replace that partner’s pheromones with artificial ones. Thus, aggravating your heat to come earlier and stronger.”

 

She lets you take a moment to process the information until you stop your dumbfounded blinking to slowly nod. “Does any of that sound like a viable explanation?” She asks. 

 

“W-Well…” You’re startled, unsure how to answer the question. Because if it’s scientifically possible to have a bond mate… 

 

_ “You were meant for me.” _

 

Clearing your throat to wave Natsuya’s voice out of your head, you return to the doctor’s question, “I do have a strong physical connection with him… But I thought it was just because of the heat, and he happened to be an alpha who was around me a lot.” 

 

“I see,” the doctor nods, “And have you interacted with any other alphas during your last heat — or maybe even this one — that you felt a similar connection with?” 

 

Seijuurou’s face pops up in your head suddenly, and you recall how kind and sweet he was to you. And you remember how much you enjoyed his company and how well he respected you, even though you must have given off a noticeable smell each time you met him. But you also recall, throughout your interactions with him, your heart didn’t jump when he touched you, and you didn’t get shivers when he said something sweet or flirty, and you didn’t feel the same way when he looked at you… Not the way you felt with… 

 

“No. I haven’t.” 

 

The doctor hums thoughtfully again, “Well, I’m not sure if there’s much more information I can provide you right now, since your situation is rather unique. But we can still do the pregnancy test today, and I can also give you a letter in case you need to take leave from work if your heat gets to be too much. You can keep me updated on the rest, and I’ll be sure to give you any help you need.” 

 

“Thank you, doctor.” You bow as she begins gathering her notes. 

 

“Not a problem.” She smiles, “Though, if he does turn out to be your bond mate, allow me to offer my congratulations!” 

 

What else can you say to that besides an awkwards thanks? 

  
  


*

  
  


The test came out negative, and you honestly don’t know which outcome would have been worse. The daunting fact that you had Natsuya’s child growing inside of you, and whether or not you would have kept it, and the inevitable fights you would have with the alpha about the ordeal. Or coming to terms with the idea that Kirishima Natsuya, that annoying, dumb, needy, entitled, rich kid, was actually your bond mate. 

 

Well now that the results are in, you can only come to the most sensical — which also happens to be the most ridiculous — conclusion that your soul is connected to Natsuya’s. What are you even supposed to do with this information?? Sleep with him just to push him away again? Cry alone through your heat, hoping it won’t get as bad as last time?

 

You pace around your room endlessly, trying to think through the haze of heat burning through your skin. You thought all of this would be behind you! Once you were back on your pill, you weren’t supposed to have to deal with this shit anymore. But since you had gone and fucked Natsuya, you were now stuck in this actual hot mess where even the strongest drugs won’t keep your heat at bay. 

 

“Agh!!” You scream and throw yourself onto the floor because it’s cooler than your bed. You had it all planned out; you were going to school, had a stable means to provide for yourself, your body wouldn’t ever act up, and you had a future ahead of you where you’d be independent and in a respectable work position that you had earned. You had holiday trips planned to fly back home and brag about how well you were doing for yourself, by yourself! 

 

And then this stupid, country club boy comes in with his flirty smiles and pretty eyes and turns your life upside down. The guy kisses you and scents you with his alpha pheromones and you suddenly become the helpless, needy, omega you never wanted to be overnight. You wanted better for yourself than this. You want to want Natsuya on your own terms, not because your body tells you he’s ‘the one.’ 

 

Then again, if it wasn’t for your stupid omega body, you wouldn’t have gotten to know Natsuya in that week of working with him. You wouldn’t have known he was rather diligent, and strategic, and organized, and well-liked by his family’s employees. You certainly wouldn’t have known he was more than the outgoing, but manipulative playboy he seemed to be. And you wouldn’t have been able to see his demeanor change as he continued to work with you and build more relationships for the club, and even lose that slight edge of loneliness you had first seen in him. 

 

And maybe… just maybe, you wouldn’t have been able to enjoy a taste of another man who wanted you so badly. Maybe it was all just hormonal and instinctual, but the way Natsuya treated you, held you, whispered to you… it was all so hypnotizing. Part of you really did want to believe him when he made such wild proclamations about bonding and marriage and whatnot. But the logical and cynical part of you thinks back to the type of girls he used to hang out with, and knows that he wouldn’t have chosen you if his body hadn’t first. 

 

With your mind and body warring against each other, you decide that you have to pick a side. One that you know you won’t regret in the long run. 

  
  


*

  
  


The only reason you come in person to deliver your letter of resignation is to ask Sousuke not to tell Natsuya about it, because heaven knows with how high your heat fever is right now, you should probably be bedridden. “I’d really prefer not to deal with him trying to bother me about it for the three weeks I have before I leave.” 

 

“Why three weeks?” Sousuke raises an eyebrow as he skims through the contents of the letter. 

 

“Because I need this week off, unfortunately. As I’m sure you can smell.” It’s already kind of a struggle for you to breathe properly between sentences. “And there is no way I can do another ‘temporary assistant’ job again.” 

 

“Why’s that?” 

 

You give Sousuke a look that you know he can read. A look that says, ‘you know exactly why.’ 

 

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. You’re one of my best servers. Not to mention a customer favorite already.” Sousuke says. “Though if Natsuya can’t convince you to stay, do you think I could?” 

 

“Aww, Sousuke you care about me~” You smack your manager lightly on the arm, “That’s pretty endearing coming from someone as expressionless as you. It’s not hard to be a customer favorite when you’re standing next to such a gloomy-looking manager, no matter how handsome he is.” 

 

Maybe it’s the heat messing with your head, but you’re being more playful than usual. In a flirtier tone than usual. To your composed manager of all people. Which just so happens to be what Natsuya hears when he practically charges into the restaurant. “Who are you calling handsome while smelling like that?!” 

 

His voice is playful, but it’s a demand nonetheless as he maneuvers around all the tables to attack you with a back hug and a deep sniff into your neck. “Natsuya!” You squeak as you’re pushed into the counter of the bar. Luckily, it’s still setup time right now, so there aren’t customers in yet, but this is still inappropriate and embarrassing. “Get— off— of me!” You manage to tear his arms away, though you have a strong feeling that it’s only because he lets you. 

 

He groans loudly at the separation, “I could smell you from outside. Your heat really did come early, didn’t it?” 

 

“Yeah, it did.” You sigh, “And on that note, I’ll be taking my leave. Bye, Sousuke.” 

 

“See you.” He waves. 

 

“I’ll be more than happy to help you again if you need!” Natsuya calls after you. 

 

You ignore the alpha and walk through the swinging door to the staff area. But you stop by the lockers to retrieve your uniform and spare clothes to bring home for a wash. Might as well since you won’t be here for another week anyway. However, through the door, you can still hear Natsuya and Sousuke talking, and your ear catches at something Natsuya says about coming to pick up the monthly records. 

 

“I’ll bring anything else you need, if you have it.” He offers, “What’s that?” 

 

“Oh, uhm…” Sousuke’s low voice hums. 

 

“Letter of resignation? That definitely needs to be taken back to HR.” Natsuya says matter-of-factly, “Who’s resigning?” 

 

“Well…” 

 

You burst out of the back door before you can hear the rest. If you weren’t already so out of breath from your heat, you’d have run back to your car, but that is definitely not happening. Just like Natsuya staying behind when he finds out you’re quitting is definitely not happening. 

 

“[Name]!” He shouts after you, sprinting up to you in seconds. He swerves on his feet and plants himself right in front of you, grabbing hold of your shoulders, “Are you serious? About leaving the club?” 

 

You can’t handle the intensity in his eyes so you turn your head to the side, “What do you think?” 

 

“I  _ think  _ you’re trying to run away from me again.” His voice is harsh, clearly upset, “Why are you doing this? You know how I feel about you. We— we have a connection. I know you don’t think we’re bond mates but I feel—” 

 

“I know we’re bond mates.” You interrupt.

 

“You— what?” Natsuya pulls back, likely unable to believe what he’s hearing, since it’s coming from you. 

 

“I didn’t believe it, and trust me, I have tried to deny it for a long time. But… I can’t anymore.” You admit, “Which is why I have to leave.”

 

“What?” Natsuya shouts and looks at you like you’re the stupid one. Which you very well may be, in this case. “How does that make any sense? Who’s ever heard of someone running away from their bond mate? I really don’t understand.” 

 

“You don’t have to,” You insist, “This isn’t about you. It’s about me. And bond mate or not, I haven’t changed my mind about not wanting an alpha. I would rather suffer through this heat alone than live the rest of my life as someone else’s omega.” 

 

You begin to storm off, but Natsuya grabs you by the arm, and his touch is absolutely electric. His strength around your forearm sends shivers through your entire body, making your heat flare up even more. “Please don’t do this.” He begs, outright. “I know you felt it too. When we slept together, when we just held each other… It was like, everything was finally right in the world. Like I could do anything, as long as I had you. I— I need you. Please. Don’t go.” 

 

The heat seems to be affecting your eyes now too, because you can feel it prickling at your tear ducts. “I… may need you too.” You admit, trying to keep control of your voice, not daring to look at Natsuya’s face at the risk of breaking down and throwing yourself into his arms. 

 

“But… I don’t want you. And you don’t want me. This is just a force of nature, you don’t actually want me for who I am. You’re just clinging to me because your alpha dick stands and points in my direction.” 

 

That makes Natsuya’s grip loosen in surprise. And he does what you were afraid he was going to do. He takes your face in his hands and forces you to look directly into his eyes when he says, “You know that’s not true.” 

 

And somehow, you do. Somewhere, deep down in your heart, you know that. But at the forefront, you don’t want to. So you gently pry his hands off of your face just as the tears begin streaking down your cheeks. 

 

“Goodbye, Natsuya.”


	4. The Epiphany

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> omega and alpha find each other again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, i am finally here with the last installment of this abo fic, and i thank you profusely if you've been following up until this point. i know i've been running around snatching hearts into a bag for natsuya and banging them into walls of angst, but i hope this last chapter makes up for all the pain 
> 
> also, i basically owe [Tiffany](https://tonystonem.tumblr.com/) my life now, so please give her a round of applause for acting as my beta for this entire project. honestly, if not for her, this whole thing would be an even bigger mess than it is right now. (she has also brought to my attention that i am, in fact, early for natsuya's birthday this year hA) thank you and enjoy

As insufferable as it is to stay holed up in your apartment alone, you force yourself through the days that seem to move at a slow crawl. You use most of your time to do homework, research and apply for new jobs, and miscellaneous things to combat your heat. 

 

It’s getting bad. You’ve been using all your available resources and information to pass through this; cold showers, healthy foods, extra hydration, porn, toys, everything. Yet nothing seems to be able to appease your dangerous body temperature, and it’s starting to feel more and more like that heat stroke you had last month that had you keeled over Natsuya’s coat and begging for him to fuck you. 

 

Honestly, if he was anywhere near you right now, you would probably end up doing the same thing. Which is why it was a good call that you actually took off work this time, so you wouldn’t be near him and risk doing something impulsive like that again. 

 

Though after a call with your doctor to ask for alternative solutions to combat or get through your heat without an alpha’s help, the only one she could offer was to create a nest to at least surround yourself with comforting smells and fabrics and things that naturally calm you. And best believe, you’ve tried. But none of the scented candles or the bubble baths or even your work uniform that still has lingering essences of Natsuya’s scent have been able to remotely appease the tight coil in your center as much as you remembered his actual touch to. 

 

What made his touch so different from anyone else’s? Was it because he was hot? Was it because you had to work with him for a couple of weeks? Did your perspective of him change in that short amount of time? Did your initial disgust or discontent dissipate into thin air? And did you possibly even adjust your view of the pompous, self-serving alpha?

 

Funny enough, the longer you’re away from Natsuya, the more you think of him. And dare you say it, miss him. As much as you loathe to believe it, your heart misses him as much as your body does. The memory of his laugh or his idiotic personality makes your heart long for him as much as your body does.

 

You’re helplessly lonely. As much as you want to call your family to ask for help or to just cry to them, you know that their input isn’t really going to be anything you want to hear. You really don’t want to be told that you’re free to come home, or that this is just a part of life for an omega (but you’re handling it well!), or any answer of reason, really. 

 

Honestly, you don’t even know what you do want to hear. That it’ll pass? That you’ll make it through this? That this won’t happen again? You don’t know any of that though! No one does, not even your doctor. And that’s one of the things that scares you the most. 

 

The unknown. 

 

The possibility that maybe if you can’t get through this on your own, that maybe you won’t be able to do anything on your own. The small prospect that the answer to all your problems just might be the initial cause of all of them; a tall, handsome, charismatic, idiotic, charming alpha with eyes as beautiful as amber. The daunting reality that maybe you’re really not meant to become the strong, successful, lone omega after all. 

 

And in the midst of all these spiraling and deprecating thoughts, you get a call. To your surprise, it’s not from Natsuya. It’s not any less unwanted since you really are not in shape to talk to anyone right now, but Sousuke could be calling about work or something that you could easily have the answer to so you pick up anyway. 

 

“H-Hello?” You croak out, your voice less prepared than you expected it to be. 

 

“Are you okay?” 

 

A check-in from your manager. Also unexpected. 

 

You clear your throat again, making sure it’s ready for use this time, “Could be better. What’s up?” 

 

“The fact that you sound like you haven’t drank any water in the past week. Are you taking care of yourself?” 

 

“As a matter of fact,  _ mom _ , I’m doing everything in my power to take care of myself.” You reply snootily, “Is there something else you needed?”

 

“Yeah, but I need to tell you in person. I just wanted to let you know I’m coming over later.”

 

“Wait, what? Coming over?” You utter, “Like, to my house?” 

 

“In a couple of hours.”

 

What in the world could be so important that Sousuke — your work manager — needs to come over to your house to tell you in person? “But…” 

 

“I’ll text you when I’m heading over.” 

 

And he hangs up, leaving you to stare down at your phone in wonder and contemplate what he’s going to share with you for the next few hours. 

  
  


*

  
  


“This is, for lack of a better word, an intervention.” Sousuke blinks with his calm, droopy eyes. If it wasn’t for his voice, you could’ve easily mistaken his seriousness about this. His expression is the same as you’ve always seen it. 

 

“And to think, I thought you were the type to mind your own business.” 

 

Joke’s on him though, since he’s the one getting a heavy dose of omega stank right up his nostrils. To his credit, he’s handling the strong smell rather graciously by not pinching his nose despite how you saw his hand twitch towards his face earlier when he walked in. 

 

You suppose you don’t mind the company. Sousuke was already a calming personality in general. His beta presence doesn’t do anything to aggravate you, though it doesn’t necessarily relieve you of anything that you’re feeling right now, other than your psychological satisfaction at having another human nearby. 

 

“I’m just here to share some information. And my opinion.” He looks at the floor before he looks up at you. He must be thinking hard about how to break it to you, whatever it is. 

 

Since you had already gotten him a drink upon arrival, you have nothing else to offer but silence as you wait for him to continue. He blinks at you twice before he decides to start with, “As I’m sure you’re aware, Natsuya is very close with his family.” 

 

“He’s close with a lot of people, but yeah, I had a feeling. I’ve seen enough photos in his office.” You pat at your sweaty face with a small towel, like you’ve been doing for the past couple days. 

 

“And as I’m sure you also know, Natsuya has been taking his role as a head director for the country club more seriously as of late.” 

 

You only offer a hum this time, because of course you know. You saw for yourself the gradual shift from playboy heir to charismatic coordinator to straight-up marketer. All of his “clientele” that started off as visiting friends and pretty girls began appearing in suits and with briefcases to open or start deals or memberships. And if you think about it, Natsuya himself even stopped showing up in his usual polo shirts and capris in favor of button-downs and slacks that more than fit his form. 

 

They were all small details that you have overlooked in passing in order to stay focused on whatever your task at hand was at the time, but you always noticed. How could you not when he was just a walking, talking fuck toy? There was never a moment when you didn’t notice his loud attractiveness, because just a look at him would make bells and alarms start ringing in your head. If you stared a little too long, or let him throw a smile at you, it would start to feel like a gong. 

 

But back to the matter at hand, Sousuke is talking about something and you had checked out for a moment so you’re only getting the latter part of his story now. 

 

“—had a falling out.” 

 

“Wait, what? Who?” You shake your head in an attempt to shake away your distracting thoughts of Natsuya’s face. And body. And touch. 

 

“His brother Ikuya, when they were having lunch at the club today, mentioned something about how he should ‘forget about you’ since Natsuya had been talking about you and your… situation, whatever that may be, for a while.” Sousuke reviews, looking at you as if to make sure you were actually listening this time. “Their parents were there too, so I think you can only imagine how the situation must’ve gotten when Natsuya blew up at Ikuya.” 

 

“He blew up? Natsuya?” You repeat. 

 

Now that’s hard to believe. Natsuya has only ever gotten worked up when he’s gotten jealous. Even when you were rude or mean to him, or he got frustrated with you, he never did anything that you would have described as “blowing up.” But… if it involved you somehow — thinking back to what happened to that man who smacked your ass in the restaurant all those weeks ago — then yeah, you can guess how he may have reacted. 

 

“Yes. They’re all still on speaking terms, but he was adamant about how he felt about you when his family started insisting that you were a distraction that could be easily replaced by another girl.” 

 

‘Easily replaced.’ 

 

You know that it’s true and you’ve been telling yourself that from the beginning when you saw Natsuya go through all those girls at the club in your starting days. But why does it still hurt to think about now? You’ve seen Natsuya with other omegas before. Plenty of them. He had a new girl on his arm almost every time you saw him. 

 

And yet… why does it hurt so much more to think of him just moving on to someone else now? Why did it hurt so much when you tore him out of your life in that parking lot? Why did it take you hours and tears and tissues to write up that resignation letter? You had asked for this. You had asked for all of it. Yet somehow, you’re starting to forget what the ultimate goal was in the first place if it was going to cause you so much pain in the rest of the process. 

 

And if this is how you’re feeling, how would Natsuya be feeling? 

 

As if he read your thoughts, Sousuke chimes in to say, “Natsuya has been pretty distracted lately, which is usually unlike him but it’s become a little more common after he started being with you. But I think after this, he’s letting it get in the way of his work.” 

 

That makes you bite your lip in guilt. You’ve become a hindrance in his day-to-day life? 

 

“His parents have noticed,” Sousuke continues, “And they haven’t been happy about it, since he’s just started making some really good progress with his work ethic. But now, his main concern is you. 

 

“I think he’s been especially worried because of your heat, since he goes on about how strongly you reacted to it before. And… well,” he wrinkles his nose as quickly as he can as not to seem rude, “I think after coming here, I can see why he’s concerned.” 

 

Well, you can’t blame him. If any doctor could smell you right now, it’d probably be cause for alarm. You just hide your pout behind a sip of your water before turning your gaze back to your manager, “Okay. Anything else you wanted to share?” 

 

Sousuke takes a calm breath before continuing, almost like a signal for you to brace yourself rather than for him to mentally prepare, “Look, I wouldn’t be getting myself involved if I didn’t think he really needed you. He’s always been a frivolous guy, but he always puts family first. At the beginning, I had my doubts and just thought maybe he would move on from you like he has with others that I’ve seen him with before. And his family likely thought so too, but when he told off Ikuya like that, it was clear that you have a stronger effect on him than he can help.” 

 

Another guilty lip bite, because the last thing you want to do is be the cause of a rift between Natsuya and those who are actually important to him. But then again, who are you to him that makes him willing to lash out against the ones he loves most? Does he really care that much? Sure, it’s understandable to yell at or even punch a douchey customer, but his brother that he’s so fond of? 

 

“Well, what do you want me to do? I’ve already kicked him out of my life. I’ve said enough awful things to him that would deter him from me for a lifetime.”

 

“Well, what do  _ you _ want to do?” He’s hitting you with a curveball again. “What is it that you want so badly that you decided to cut him out of your life in the first place?”

 

Sinking into your chair, you try to wrack your brain for the right answer, because it’s become less and less clear to you when all the omega pheromones are messing with your head. “I just… don’t want to lose myself.”

 

“You mean for your path to the future?” 

 

“I mean for everything!” You bite back a cry and the tears welling in your eyes, “I don’t want my future, my name, my livelihood, my success, my failures, or anything to be tied to anyone else. They’re mine, and I want them to stay mine. Not mine from courtesy of some alpha.” 

 

“And you think that being with Natsuya is going to give off the impression that he had some sort of weight in your successes.” Sousuke guesses. 

 

“It’s an automatic assumption in this godforsaken world.” You cross your arms bitterly. 

 

Sousuke is silent for a bit, leaving you to fan at your heated skin with a nearby magazine and wonder what he’ll say next. “I think I understand where you’re coming from. There’s probably nothing harder than living under the social expectations and discrimation you receive as an omega. But if I can weigh in, I think receiving help is more of a strength than anything.” 

 

You stare at him, waiting. So he continues, “It’s admirable that you want to build a legacy of your own, which I’m sure you will. But I doubt many people make it too far by just carrying all the accumulating weight on their own. At least, not without sacrificing something else important.” 

 

“What? So you’re saying I shouldn’t work towards building an independent future, but to accept and embrace the fact that I need a big, strong alpha’s help?” You scoff. You’re being unnecessarily catty right now, but you’re hoping he’ll be understanding about it. 

 

“I think I’m saying the exact opposite.” He corrects, “You can build whatever independent future you want, become the greatest omega to have ever lived. But you can also accept help on the way there. In fact, I’d go as far to say you need help to get there — from anyone, regardless of whether they’re an alpha or omega or whatever else.

 

“I mean, think about it; would you have gotten nearly as much of a learning experience at the club if Natsuya hadn’t offered you that project assistant job? And who knows, maybe if you hadn’t been with Natsuya during your last heat, things could have turned out much worse.” 

 

You relent with a sigh, “I see what you’re getting at. But in the grand scheme of things, what am I supposed to do then? I… still don’t know if I want my life to be tied to Natsuya’s. What I have with him… it’s something different, maybe extraordinary. And I’m afraid once I give myself completely to him, I might forget what I really wanted.” You admit. It’s weird, putting your fears and vulnerabilities out like that. You haven’t had anyone to do that with in a long time. 

 

Which is when you realize, maybe you have been alone for too long. You’ve been fighting for yourself, battling stereotypes, moving to a new place, struggling and learning on your own without much support outside of those at the country club. And what have you done? Cut off those very connections you had to those who were trying to help you carry the weight. 

 

That’s when Sousuke perfectly reads your thoughts again and pops in with another disorienting question, “Well, why does turning him away have to be the answer? If anything, he should be there to remind you of your ambitions, and to help you with them.” He adjusts his sitting position to what looks like a slightly more relaxed posture, “And if not, you still have me and the rest of us as well.” 

 

“Sousuke…” A tear falls from your eye. You can’t help it anymore, you’re so touched. It’s followed by another, and another, and several others until you can’t stop them anymore. 

 

It’s been such a long time since you’ve heard someone tell you that they’ll be there for you. And you didn’t understand how much you needed that reassurance until now. Hearing Sousuke say that you’ll have him to lean on in the future makes you feel like he really sees you as a friend, someone you can confide in. And maybe having a foundation again is what breaks this other wall from inside you. 

 

You’re suddenly so aware of how much you need other people in your life. Omegas by nature attract others and need companionship, thrive off of it. If you were to just live without any of that, how could you possibly take on the world and your goals without being able to give your fullest efforts and abilities? Sousuke’s probably been trying to drive this into your thick skull all this time — that you can have both. And you’ve been too busy sulking and feeling sorry for yourself and your disposition to realize it. 

 

You tell him so after you’ve cried it out for several minutes, and he just nods understandingly, like he deals with overemotional omega crises every day. 

 

Until eventually, he says, “You should call him.” 

 

Sniffling and tossing tissues into the nearby trash can, you take another deep breath to level your voice. “How can I? After I pushed him away all this time?” 

 

“If he’s really your alpha, he would never turn away from you when you call for him.” He says with more confidence than you could have ever expected. And with that, he stands from his seat and announces his leave. 

 

“Thank you, Sousuke.” You say at the door, “I… I really appreciate all of your help.” 

 

“Anytime.” He smiles his sleepy-looking smile and makes his way out. 

 

Once he’s gone, you tear off the large t-shirt you had been wearing and stand right in front of the air conditioner. As the machine’s strongest, coolest winds blow at your damp skin, you close your eyes and think about everything that happened in your conversation. 

 

After several minutes, you’ve cooled down a bit, but your head is starting to get a little dizzy from the stomach pain — or rather, the aching emptiness of your core. So you sprawl out on your couch instead, glancing between the ceiling and your phone. 

 

You know what you need to do, but it’s still hard to accept after you’ve been trying to repress that part of you for so long. To just welcome your big, horny, neediness with open arms so you can lure the most enticing yet annoying alpha you’ve ever known back between your legs like you didn’t hurt him before. 

 

When you think about how hard Natsuya has tried for you, how kind and nurturing he was, how he always treated you with respect despite his strong need to just take you, and how he even upset his precious family for your sake, it becomes clearer and clearer to you that he likes you for more than you assumed. Even with the omega chemicals manipulating his body and thoughts, nothing could change the fact that he still gave you a fair chance to work with him and even when you tossed him to the curb, he respected your decision. 

 

You can only hope that you didn’t hurt him to the point that he wouldn’t give you another chance. But what if fighting with his brother was his wake-up call? What if he realized he really was better off without a stubborn, sulky omega complicating his life? He could have already made up with his family and promised them that he would get over you and focus on work. 

 

Would he do that? Natsuya is a man of passion if you’ve ever met one, but he has his own values and integrity. Would he still respect you after you broke both of your hearts and came crawling back for forgiveness? Would he still even like you after you’ve brought all this trouble to his life? Or maybe even just fuck you again for closure so he can leave you behind like he did to all the other omegas he’s seen before? 

 

You don’t want to dare be hopeful that he’ll take you back, but you don’t know what you would do if he decided that going separate ways was the best decision. You don’t know how you could move on now that you want another taste of him. And just like that, your thoughts and mood switch and mix the anxious with the horny and you’re overheating and jacking off to all the ways you can imagine Natsuya to treat you when you see him again. You even call out his name a few times, and you don’t know why the sound tastes so good in your mouth. 

 

You turn to your phone again, still very aware of what you have to do, but unable to summon the courage to reach out for it. “Natsuya…” you sigh again, just to say it. And you kind of love it. You love saying it. Nothing else sounds more beautiful than his name right now. Nothing in the world sounds better than him, having him. And now that you’re starting to accept your want and need for him, your heart is growing hopeful again. 

 

Sousuke’s words echo in your mind again like they have countless times before,  _ “If he’s really your alpha, he would never turn away from you when you call for him.”  _

 

And when your heat spikes again, you suck in a breath like you’re trying to inhale courage from the air. Leaving your pride behind in favor of survival, living completely and truly for happiness, you pick up your phone. It doesn’t take long for him to answer with a worried but surprised voice. And you barely have the strength to speak, but you know that there’s only one thing you need to say, “Please, help me.” 

  
  
  


*

  
  


Natsuya gets here in much less time than should be possible in consideration of the speed limits to arrive at your apartment from the club. His hurried ringing of the doorbell grows excessive, since it actually takes you quite a bit of time to get to the door. You don’t have much strength to call out and let him know you’re coming either. 

 

The second the door swings open, the alpha barrages into the apartment to bring you into his arms, “Oh my god, are you okay?” His chest hums against yours as he speaks. But you barely hear it, because all you can do is feel. 

 

Feel Natsuya’s warmth press against your bare skin, feel his arms hugged tightly enough around you to hold you up on his own, feel his lips on your scent glands and coating them in his own smell. It’s like you’ve walked through a purified waterfall and washed part of the pain away. And you can tell, if you stay underwater long enough to drown in him, you’ll be freed completely. 

 

“N-Natsuya…” You tremble, already crying into his shoulder. Crying because you are so immensely relieved that he came, that he’s here with you again, that he doesn’t hate you enough to leave you to die in the fire of your own body. 

 

“Why would you open the door while naked? What if it wasn’t me? I can smell you from outside. Thank god no one came in here. I don’t know what I’d do if— if anything happened to you.” He seems to be crying in both frustration and relief too, by the desperate look on his face as he pulls back to assess you, only to pull you back into his hold once again. 

 

Yes. Yes, this is what you want. This is where you want to be. In his arms, properly sharing yourself with the one you’re meant to be with. 

 

“Let’s get you to bed,” he easily sweeps you up into his arms and heads straight for the hallway where your room is. “You are really going to kill me right now…” You assume he’s mumbling that more to himself than to you. 

 

Once you’re lying back down on your bed, Natsuya clambers over you, tearing off his shirt in a hurry to get his skin against yours. You appreciate it, but you wish he had just taken off the pants too while he was at it. No more time is wasted on words as Natsuya kisses you and curls his arms around your waist and shoulders. He puts his lips everywhere; on your face, your ears, your neck, your collarbones, your shoulders, your arms, your chest. Anywhere and everywhere he can reach so that his scent will coat yours. 

 

You wrap your limbs around his body, trapping him against you, kissing him back when he comes up to your lips again. Desperate to fill up on as many touches as possible to make up for the long absence from him. Every kiss and touch he leaves on your skin relieves you, and adds to the collective effort of bringing your temperature down. And you’re utterly overwhelmed by how perfectly he fits against you, once again reminding you that you both really were made for each other, though it took you long enough to accept it. 

 

And you can tell, from the way Natsuya’s body moves against yours, the way he takes desperate care to please you and alleviate your pain, he must have been put through pure torture trying to stay away from you. His desperate kisses and whiny hums as he licks across your skin give away how badly he’s needed to be with you. He’s told you time and time again that he needed you, that he would always find his way back to you, that he knew you were special to him. And up until this point, you had turned that all away.

 

The thought of you trying to force yourself away from the man who was meant to be your bondmate, chosen for you by the heavens above, and causing him as much pain as you’ve caused yourself if not more, is more painful than any heat that you’ve tried to withstand so far. To think that your selfishness led you to string him along and then hurt him with the notion that you didn’t want him, you suddenly feel your heart cracking open. 

 

Tears break through your eyes and trail uncontrollably down your face because you can’t stop thinking about it now. All the pain just breaks through the threshold and pours down your face in wet, hot streaks that stain Natsuya’s face too. Your sobbing brings Natsuya to full attention, and he hugs you even closer in his protective hold, “Hey, hey… what’s wrong?” He murmurs, kissing at your eyelids as the waterworks continue. 

 

Your voice breaks in a sob before you can even try to speak, “W-Why did you come? After everything I said to you?” You blubber, unsure if he was even able to understand that, “I don’t deserve this. Or you.” 

 

“Because I love you.” He says, without a hint of humor in his face. It feels like it comes out of nowhere, despite how sensical the explanation is, because your heart is about to swell through your ribs and break through your chest. 

 

“You… what?” You blink, the tears starting to slow from the shock. 

 

“I love you,” he repeats, “I didn’t come here because my body needs you, or because you’re an omega, or because this room should stink with how powerful your heat is but all I can smell is roses and the sea.” 

 

Your heart starts racing faster as he says it, but your nerves seem to calm when he strokes your hair and neck with soothing touches as he continues, “I know you think I’m trying to be with you because my body is weak for yours, and it is, but there’s more to it than that. 

 

“You’re a fighter. You work so hard to get what you want despite having the odds set up against you for as long as you’ve lived. When we met, you were the complete opposite of me, who’s always gotten everything he’s ever thought he wanted immediately given to him. And the more I talked to you, the more we worked together, the more I learned from you, the more I grew to like you. And I mean truly like you, admire you.”

 

“But— But Sousuke told me what happened with your family. No matter how you feel, it can’t be worth hurting them over…” You choke, trying to find some time between your hiccoughs to actually get some air into your lungs. 

 

“They don’t know what you’ve done for me. Every change about me that they’re so proud of, it’s only because of you.” He assures firmly, “You taught me how to be diligent, and strong, and how to think of others before myself. You showed me that there’s worth and purpose in working hard every day. It’s something my family has been trying to instill in me all their lives, so it’s harder for them to accept the fact that someone else was able to get it through my head.” 

 

He sighs as he takes a short pause to run his nose up your neck and scent you, “But even beyond all that, what’s the most amazing is that you taught me that I’m capable of love.” 

 

The tears are back, but with a different feeling this time. You can feel something else blooming in your chest and pushing the feelings out through your eyes. “I didn’t…” You say. Even with all the changes you’ve seen in him, he’s the one who found out for himself. 

 

“You did. Feel this.” He takes your hand and places it right against his heart. And to your surprise, yet again, it’s beating more rapidly than feels healthy. It feels as fast as your own… “I am so in love with you. And I am so happy you called me here. And I wanted a lot of things from you before, but now… I know it’s not about just me. Now, all I want is for you to feel loved too.” 

 

And now you’ve started your own waterfall. You have a feeling that your face is as wet as your thighs are by now, but you don’t bother with wiping at them. Instead, you bring him in for another kiss, and try to communicate to him the absolute joy humming through your body. It’s already a lot for you to comprehend, but you know that you’ll figure it out with Natsuya by your side. All these feelings welling up inside of you and taking shape in the touches you share. 

 

He gets the idea, and lets you touch and kiss and bite and lick him to your heart’s desire. You delight in the pleasured noises he makes in reaction to your hands and lips and tongue, and it makes you want to do more. But that can be saved for another day because you need to feel his whole body bare against you, so you demand for his pants to come off.  _ Now _ . 

 

They’re gone in seconds, and you don’t waste a moment rubbing your hands and legs all over his now naked body. You remember this, how good every curve and muscle felt against your fingertips, how absolutely perfect his body was, especially when pressed against yours. And you definitely remember how good he smelled when he got hard and hot for you. 

 

And that shaft of his,  _ ugh _ . Absolutely dirty how god made it such a beautiful, perfect shape for you. For  _ you _ . It doesn’t matter how many others have seen and had this dick inside of them before, because now, it’s all for you. And the thought of it sends a fresh wave of arousal blossoming through the room, which makes Natsuya keel over and rest all of his weight on you. 

 

You love it. You love being this close to him, feeling his entire body weighing down on you. More than anything, you love this effect you have on him. The way he reacts to you and the pleasure you give him sets your blood on fire and makes you warm up in a way completely unrelated to your heat cycle. To remind yourself of the feeling, you take his length in your hand, relishing how thick and heavy it is in your palm, and absolutely revel in the way he shudders as you pump it with long, languid strokes. 

 

That’s enough teasing for now though, you decide. You position him right against your slick opening and wait for him to push inside himself. “No condom again?” He smiles breathlessly, then buries his laugh in your neck when you shake your head impatiently, “You really are trying to kill me, aren’t ya?” 

 

Maybe you are. Slowly, of course, because that’s the sweetest way to see him unravel. You tug with your hand a little to signal for him to come in, and he obliges. Natsuya’s moan is low and long, while you let out broken cries of pleasure as he slowly fills you like he did before. Except, this is different from before. 

 

Last time was already the most amazing feeling you had ever experienced from another man, but this… This is a completely different intensity. Is this what it means to be truly and wholly connected to someone else? To feel your entire soul open up and wrap its arms around your connecting half? Now that you’ve opened your heart up to Natsuya completely, there’s this strange, inherent instinct within you to give away all of your control to your feelings for him. You can’t even think to hold back anymore. 

 

“Natsuya…” You call out to him, completely wasted on his scent. 

 

“Yeah?” He replies in the same rasp, lips brushing against your throat. 

 

“Mark me.” 

 

He snaps his head up to stare at you like you just told him both the best and worst thing he’s ever heard, and you can feel his cock twitch inside of you. Undying want bursts in his amber-lost eyes, adoration and instinctual possession pushing his pupils wide into the edges of his irises, but flashing with a flicker of confusion, “What?” 

 

Bringing a hand up to brush his hair out of his eyes and caress his face, you speak slowly, carefully, looking straight at him the way you were always afraid to before, “I want to bond with you.” 

 

He blinks in disbelief, scraping his teeth across his bottom lip, “Why all of a sudden?” 

 

“I… I know we’re bondmates now.” You struggle to find the right words, to not make this sound like a heat of the moment kind of decision — which it is, but you’re surprisingly serious about it. “I really didn’t believe you before, but time and time again, I’ve been proven wrong. And as much as I tried to fight it… I think I know now. I’m meant to be with you.”

 

He stares down at you for a long while, piercing you with those beautiful amber eyes expanded in black. “Are you absolutely sure? You’re not just saying that because you’re in the most powerful heat I’ve ever felt and I’m balls deep inside of you?” 

 

You’re silent, contemplative. Because you  _ are  _ sure. You doubt you’ve ever felt this sure about anything in your life before. You… love him. And you need to show him that. After everything you’ve done to push him away, you need him to know that you really do truly want him, and that you won’t change your mind. You have to—

 

“You don’t have to prove anything to me. I know that you’re capable of doing and getting anything you want. And I’ll be here for you, whenever you need me. No matter what.” He says, eyes honest and clear. He means it, and that is really what makes you sure of this. 

 

You kiss him gently, intentionally, just to show him that you’re in control of your thoughts and words, “I don’t want anyone else.” You bring your hand down to slide your thumb across his lip, “I never will.” 

 

As fragile as the atmosphere is, Natsuya crashes right through it into your lips. He’s demanding, needy. He bites and pulls at your lip and pushes his tongue inside of your mouth to lick across the roof of yours, making you shiver and pulse around him. And then he takes his hips back until only his tip rests inside you to push right back in, sliding effortlessly against your walls and molding himself to you in every which way.

 

Keeping the languid pace, he brings his face up to pant, “Do you love me?” 

 

Kind of a dirty move to ask that question when he’s got your pleasure dangling from his own fingertips, but you suppose you can’t take away every part of Natsuya. Besides, you know the answer, “I love you.” 

 

You don’t think you’ve ever seen a smile so beautiful in your life. To think that you were the one to put that smile on his gorgeous face sends your heart aflutter with a whole kaleidoscope of butterflies. “Then say it again,” he rumbles into your ear. 

 

His slow thrusts are stealing away your breaths as he pushes against so many spots inside of you, but you’ll put in the extra effort for your bondmate, “I love you, Natsuya.” His hips stutter for a moment and you can feel him twitch inside of you again. “And I want you to be my alpha.” 

 

The sound that comes from his throat is the deepest rumble of a growl you’ve ever heard, and it sends an electric shiver through your entire spine. He comes in to kiss you again, impossibly soft and hard at the same time, “I will give you  _ anything  _ you want.” 

 

“Then give it to me.” You stretch your neck out and raise your shoulder slightly, exposing a scent gland in a bit of playful challenge. 

 

This time, his growl really does resonate all the way through to the tips of your limbs. You can feel yourself buzzing down to your toes in excited pleasure at the prospect of being marked, so you lock your legs tightly around Natsuya’s waist as he starts pumping into you faster. He has to scoop his hands underneath your arms in order to hold you still by your shoulders as his thrusts get faster still, and harder, violent even. And you are outright crying for more. 

 

His hips start slapping loudly against yours in the speed he’s gained, and when he starts angling himself in different ways, your shouts become even more uncontrolled as he hits you in all the right spots. Honestly, every spot feels like the right one, and he knocks into them one after another, leaving you no time to collect yourself. So you cope with the overwhelming pleasure by dragging your nails down Natsuya’s back and shouting like you’re in a porno. 

 

Natsuya sucks at your skin and breathes against your face, watching you as you take all of him over and over again. When you feel his knot begin to grow, you stutter with needy whines, begging him to stuff it right up inside of you, “Keep it inside me forever…” 

 

You are beyond faded, because you don’t even know what prompted you to say that. Maybe your omega instincts fucking with you again. But Natsuya sure reacts to it strongly, “Fuck!” He growls, thrusting deep inside of you to slip his knot into your walls and leave it locked in there. “You can’t just say that to me… I really might just die inside of you. You feel so amazing.” 

 

“So do you.” You admit, kissing him softly. 

 

He reciprocates the tender kiss as he ruts through the last several seconds it takes to build his orgasm and come inside of you. And it really feels even more incredible than the last time. Lying down, you feel like his seed sinks deeper into you, like it’s dying to just stay inside of you forever to manifest into something much more. Though that thought is an entirely different conversation, it still fills your heart with love and pleasure. Enough to make you come right after while calling his name. 

 

Just like a beckoning, he comes right in to twist around your neck to kiss and lick at your scent gland, secreting all kinds of smells in the wake of orgasm between your neck and shoulder. When he scrapes his teeth against your skin this time, you shudder but you don’t resist as he sinks them into your skin hard enough to draw blood.

 

It hurts, but it doesn’t, because you’re drugged up on alpha pheromones and an earth-shattering orgasm. In fact, the mating bite only prolongs your high and leaves you pulsing and shivering against Natsuya’s body for several minutes. He’s the absolute perfect shape inside of you, and you actually don’t see the harm in keeping him inside of you forever. You know in your heart now that he belongs here, with you. 

 

Natsuya retracts his teeth and sucks and licks at your skin until the bleeding stops for the most part. You pant through the whole thing because your scent gland grows even more sensitive after the bite. But finally, he comes back up to kiss you, “Are you okay?” 

 

Your breaths settle enough for you to answer, “Yes.” 

 

“Good.” He smiles, moving some hair out of your face. You must look a mess right now. “Because it’s your turn.” 

 

“Huh—” You aren’t given a moment before Natsuya hugs you to flip you over to lie on top of him. Only for him to sit up and bring you with him so that you now straddle him upright, like you did once before in his office. 

 

“You’re mine now.” He purrs into your neck, and you fucking love that sound. “It’s only right that you make me yours.” 

 

He stretches his neck out for you, making it easy for you to reach his scent gland so you can make your matching mark. “Natsuya…” You breathe, still dizzy from all of the stimulation. You feel like after tensing up for weeks with barely a touch to satisfy you, you’ve now cannonballed into an entire ocean of physical and emotional enlightenment. 

 

You’ve barely had time to come up for air, and now Natsuya is asking you to bond with him officially. To think, that just an hour ago, you were still crying over the wonder of whether or not he’d allow you to stay in his life. “Natsuya… I love you.” You say once more before coming in for another kiss and moving in to his scent gland. 

 

His smell is much more potent here, to the point where you can taste it. It’s so tempting that you actually do lick a seam across the patch of skin where most of his pheromones secrete from his body. Natsuya shudders underneath you and you can feel his dick twitch again inside of you, which makes your walls automatically pulse back around him. 

 

He’s mid-groan when you take your bite down into the gland, which only makes him groan louder and squeeze his arms tighter around you. And when your teeth puncture his skin, when you feel his scent come out in stronger waves to let in blankets of your own, you feel the most vulnerable and sensitive and unhinged that you’ve ever felt in your life. It’s an incredibly scary, yet sensational feeling, and it’s hard to decide if you want it to end or not. 

 

Everything about this moment is just drowned in your bond with Natsuya, physically, emotionally, spiritually… It’s completely indescribable, how amazing and connected you feel to this man in your arms. You’re both sighing each other’s names and calling out for the other even though you’re right there in each other’s embrace. This mark you’ve created feels like you’ve started a new era, a new journey that you’ll travel through with Natsuya by your side. And in this moment in time, you have no idea what could make you feel better than this. 

 

It’s overwhelming to the point that you find yourself dozing off on his shoulder after you’ve released his scent gland from your mouth. “Baby?” His voice gently calls for you, and you blink your eyes open to pull back and see him. Your first look at your newly bonded mate. 

 

Is it pathetic that you’re so speechless and weak for him that all you manage to do is whine before hugging him to you again? If he thinks so, he doesn’t mention it because he just pulls you close to him again and lies on his back. When you’re flat on top of him again, you moan at the shift of his dick inside of you, which leads you both to start rutting against each other again since his knot has not yet swelled down. 

 

Which then leads to another round of humping and grinding and kissing until you’ve both come again inside of you. You begin to wonder if there’s a storage capacity for cum inside of you. 

 

“God, I can’t believe you’re really...” Natsuya sighs as he pushes some stray hairs back from your face, “You’re really mine…’ 

 

“Well, don’t think this means you have permission to do whatever you want.” You say just to make sure you still have a hold of yourself. 

 

“I love how you put me in my place.” He hugs you with excessive strength to make you giggle as he kisses your cheek while you’re struggling in his hold, “Which is why my family is totally going to come around when they meet you.”

 

“When they what.”

 

“Well, it’s only right that they get to know my bondmate, since I’m going to be spending the rest of my life working to make her proud.” He tucks a lock of hair behind your ear this time. “But it doesn’t have to be right away.”

 

“Okay, good to hear.” You run your own thumb across his sharp cheekbone, “Because I still want you to myself for a while longer.” 

 

“Mmm, you can have me for as long as you want, as many times as you want,” he trails his fingers down your back, your butt, your thigh, “In whatever way you want.” Then he leaves a surprisingly affectionate kiss on your nose, “I’ll be here for you whenever you need.” 

 

And you must say, you’re starting to like the sound of that. 

  
  


*

  
  


Being bonded to an alpha isn’t as miserable as you made it out to be. In the past few months since you’ve bonded with Natsuya, your body has regulated to a much more bearable heat cycle, even without your suppressants anymore. And even during your heats, you have your alpha boyfriend handy to help you out like a natural medication. Though in all honesty, he’s around you a lot even when you’re not in heat. 

 

And now that you have a mate, your bond mark and Natsuya’s scent that radiates off of you makes everyone more tame when they speak to you. It’s incredible how much less harassment you have to deal with when pushy alphas know that you’re taken. They don’t even have to know that it’s the son of the country club and their membership may be jeopardized if they’re too ambitious. 

 

This in itself has already made your life ten times easier. You don’t even know why you had a prejudice towards taken omegas, and it’s brought you to the realization that you yourself were hung up in the same mindset you were trying to fight against. To think that you used to roll your eyes at all the girls who were on Natsuya’s arm to end up becoming one of them, and only realize once you were in the position why they were seeking it out in the first place. How could you be a role model for omegas when you were the one sticking your nose up at the ones who had or were looking for alphas? You were honestly quite disappointed with yourself, but you’re working on it now. 

 

In the meantime,  you’ve decided to keep your job at the club since you’re still studying and likely won’t find as good of a gig as this while in school part time. Natsuya had offered to give you a better position, but obviously you didn’t want a simple handout. You were fine in your waiting position — though you did have a word with him about the uniform — but you did decide to stay open to any more project assistant jobs he may have for you. 

 

Most of all, you’re just happier. Not just because you have Natsuya on your arm, but also because this whole ordeal has led you to the realization that you can build a new community here. You talk to Sousuke a lot more regularly now, as well as the other wait staff, and you’ve even become more open and friendly to your classmates at school. Natsuya’s family seems to like you enough as a person, since they don’t really have much say in the matter after you’ve already bonded. But you think they like you more every time you meet them. 

 

Who would’ve thought that getting laid would make your life that much easier? And made you more open to everything and everyone around you. You have a lot more to look forward to now, rather than just seeing this entire move as a step towards an ultimate goal that you associate with success. 

 

“Hey beautiful,” a voice greets you when you walk out of your class building. 

 

“What are you doing here?” You break out into a helpless smile at the sight of Natsuya while he’s leaning against a pillar outside. 

 

“Waiting for my favorite girl, obviously.” He holds his arms out and snatches you up in a hug before you can protest, “You’re headed to the club after this anyway right? Thought I’d give you a ride.” 

 

“I have a car, Natsuya.” You argue, “But I can grab lunch with you.”

 

“Fine.” Natsuya sighs as he puts his arm around you to walk beside you. “But not gonna lie, was kind of hoping we could have a little frisk in the car before work.” 

 

You blink at the brash honesty, “How is it possible that you’ve gotten twice as horny as before we got together? Maybe you’re the one who’s in heat.” 

 

“Can I help it? I’ve got the coolest and sexiest omega to call my own, how am I not supposed to be turned on by everything you do?” He noses at your cheek as you continue on your way to the school parking lot. His scent comes much closer to you in that gesture and you can’t help but take a deep breath from it. 

 

“Oh yeah?” You chuckle, “Name some of those things.” 

 

“Where do I even begin? I mean, aside from your body and face and hair and skin and eyes and smile —“ 

 

You cut him off with a light punch in the arm, and an embarrassed snort. But you stay quiet to let him continue anyway. 

 

“—You always look so good serving drinks to people, doing your homework, helping my other employees, showing up looking cute for our dates, telling me off yet still giving me what I want…” 

 

You scoff, “And you think I’m gonna give you what you want in the next two hours before I have to be clocked in?” 

 

“Well, depending on the time restraints, we could skip over the telling me off part.” He suggests innocently.

 

“Why don’t you feed me first, and we’ll talk about that later.” You reach for your keys and press the button to unlock the door. The car lights blink to life and Natsuya blocks the driver’s seat door by standing between you and the front door. 

 

“Fair enough, how about pizza today?” He smiles, already leaning in towards you. You agree without much argument and he holds your shoulders to push you gently against the car and give you a deep kiss, like he hadn’t seen you just yesterday. He kisses you long enough for you to want more when he pulls away and walks towards his own car. 

 

“Slick bastard.” You mumble as you climb into your car, knowing this is exactly why you always end up giving into him. But it’s gotten easier to surrender after a while, and now you’ve learned to enjoy it. 

 

You’ve learned a lot about yourself since bonding with Natsuya, as much as you’ve learned about him, and it surprises you how such a big life decision turned out to be so simple and seamless after the fact. It’s hard to imagine the kind of life that you had before this now, and to remember all the strife and struggle that led up to you finding and accepting your bondmate as yours. 

 

Who knows, maybe right now you’d still be struggling from your monthly heat instead of leisurely driving to a pizza restaurant to eat with your mate. You’re constantly reflecting on these thoughts, and every time you do, it just makes you appreciate Natsuya more. So when you join him at the table inside, you give him a slightly more meaningful smile than usual, “What’s up?” He asks. How are you surprised he noticed?

 

“Nothing, I just love you is all.” You answer truthfully, surprising yourself.

 

Natsuya blinks for a moment before standing and leaning all the way across the table to kiss you. When he pulls away, you already know you two are being stared at, so you try to keep your eyes focused on him and only him to avoid more embarrassment. 

 

“What was that for?” 

 

“Nothing, I just love you back.” 

 

But the smile on his face shows so much more than that. He clearly loves it when you express more affection to him, but you’ve still been pretty conservative with the love confessions — at least, not without being prompted. You can tell it means a lot to him, and that alone makes you want to do more for him. Funny, how having an alpha mate doesn’t distract you from your goals but just adds more to your quota. 

 

As you listen to Natsuya animatedly go over the different kinds of toppings he wants to add, you think about how you’re completely okay with the heavier load. It’s not like you’re carrying it yourself anymore. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i haven't been replying to comments up to this point because i didn't want to give anything away, but i promise i'll reply this time so please, tear me apart :) 
> 
> also, my [Tumblr](https://blushinggray.tumblr.com/) if you don't have it already


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